Hitsugaya's Date
by peppermint quartz
Summary: Hitsugaya meets a girl who sees spirits. But there's something different about her... A simple story, with everyone's favorite not a kid shinigami. Completed. Will have a sequel: Karin's Date.
1. Who Are You

Disclaimer: usual yada yada yada, BLEACH and its characters are not mine.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya's Date

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx---

Hitsugaya Toushiro looked out over the town.

Thousands of souls, glimmering across the landscape. If he closed his eyes and let the silence wash over him, he could feel every single one of them.

They were not strong souls, barring a few brighter flickers here and there. They were just regular, meet-in-the-street Joes and Janes. Hitsugaya felt his anger flare against the man who, for his own selfish aims, wanted to snuff out the lives of so many individuals.

"You brood too much, taichou," said Matsumoto Rangiku as she bounced up to the roof. "Here. Orihime's specialty."

"It looks normal this time."

"Oh it is. Just curry rice." As her captain dived into his dinner, she added, "With lamb's eyeballs and seasoned with cocoa."

Unlucky passers-by wondered why they had rice grains stuck in their hair when they shampooed that night.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Clad in his shinigami outfit, Hitsugaya felt more comfortable.

Was human life meant to be like this? People milling about, talking and laughing about inconsequential trivialities; people going in and out of buildings and vehicles, looking for nothing in particular; people, so caught up in day-to-day life they didn't see the bigger picture of right and wrong, good and evil.

"Are you dead?"

"What?" Hitsugaya turned around and looked down. A dark-haired girl was studying him. He saw her before, someplace... why was his mind telling him that it had something to do with strawberries? 

She folded her arms across her chest. "I asked you if you were dead. Living people don't dress in funny outfits and hang out on top of roofs." She paused and seemed to reconsider her words, then added, "Not usually anyway."

"Why are you asking?"

"You haven't answered my question, kid."

Hitsugaya gritted his teeth. _She doesn't know better. Keep your cool_. "Yes, I am dead. That why you can still see me walking and talking. Happy? And I'm not a kid."

"You don't have that funny... chain thing. On your chest."

"What chain thing?" So this girl knew about pluses and their characteristics.

"Don't pretend to be stupid. I can tell you're not," she snorted as she looked for a way up to the same roof. 

Hitsugaya watched in amazement as she shimmied up to where he stood. When she settled beside him he found his tongue. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sitting on a roof, watching people go on with their lives." She half-swiveled around. "And aren't you supposed to ask me for my name?"

"I think..." Hitsugaya sat down two and a half feet away and reconsidered. "I think I'd rather not know."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Matsumoto straightened. She pressed on both ears. Hmm. Shrugging, she went back to her sit-ups.

"Ninety one, ninety-two..." There it was again. Matsumoto dug her ears with her manicured fingers just to check.

The only other person in the room was her captain, and _she _wasn't the one making that funny sound.

"Taichou."

"Hmm?" Hitsugaya didn't look up from the report he was writing.

"Taichou."

"What, Matsumoto?"

"You're humming."

"No I'm not."

"You were humming. You were actually humming!"

"No I wasn't. You're delusional."

"You. Were. Humming. I heard you." Matsumoto got off the floor and pointed at Hitsugaya. "You were humming to yourself. You were humming a tune!"

Hitsugaya placed the report in its proper folder. Then he got up and walked to the door. "You must have overexerted yourself when you were working out."

"I only just warmed up." Her white-haired captain exited the apartment. She followed to the door and called out after him, "And you were humming a cheerful tune!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You seem cheerful."

Hitsugaya halted in his steps. "Is that a crime?"

"Hey hey hey... I'm the one who advocates cheerful," said Urahara. He slapped his fan shut. "Whaddaya want, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

"New Soul Candy. I think there's something seriously wrong with the one Kusajishi distributed to us."

Urahara looked at him closely. "Whatever happened to cheerful boy?"

"He just turned into a murderous captain," growled Hitsugaya. "Soul Candy?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

By the time he was walking to Inoue's apartment he realized he _was _humming.

It was an ancient song he learned when he was still a soul wandering about in Rukongai. It kept the gnawing hunger from his mind, and he'd sang it to himself whenever he was tired or starving. He thought that, after he'd moved into Seireitei, he had forgotten the tune.

And now it was resurfacing.

He wasn't hungry, he was certain of that; although Inoue was terrible at cookery she did like to cook a lot of rice. And he wasn't tired either.

So what was he feeling?

"Hey, Hitsugaya-taichou!"

"Ikkaku. What's up?"

"Yumi said I have to go to this dojo place. They got this new instructor that's supposedly really good."

"Oh." Hitsugaya tucked his hands into his jeans. "Have fun then."

Ikkaku scratched his chin. "You look very cheerful today, taichou. Something good happened?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You look glum."

"The only person to get it right today." Hitsugaya stopped walking. "You really should stop approaching me from behind."

"You prefer I should talk about you behind your back then?" The girl strolled up and they both continued down the road, matching paces. "So what's your story anyway?"

"Died. Went to a place called Soul Society. Became a shinigami. Then I came here to protect your town." Hitsugaya rehearsed the statements in his head and realized it was ridiculous. He smiled a little to himself and asked instead, "Are you curious about my life... unlife?"

"Not really." She slowed as they passed an embankment. They were by the river. "It's just... why are you dead and yet... alive?"

"Why do you want to know?"

She sucked in her cheeks, held her breath and blew it out. Her eyes fixed on a point opposite the river. "I just want to know if people can come back after they died. Like you."

"That's... not the whole truth, is it?"

"Why do you care?" She spun, suddenly angered. "You don't even know my name. You don't even know me. You know nothing about me."

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to argue, then realized he had nothing to say. He calmed his temper down. "Of course I don't know you," he managed at last. "I met you, what, two nights ago?"

The brunette exhaled shakily. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just... it's been a bad week." She looked away, embarrassed by her display of raw emotion. 

"It's all right." Hitsugaya could afford to be magnanimous. She was just a kid, after all.

They fell in step again, the dragonflies darting about their silence.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Matsumoto caught him humming again that night when they were returning from a hollow slaying.

"Taichou," asked Matsumoto, "anything new in your life recently?"

"Hmm?" Hitsugaya's attention came back to the present. He pursed his lips. "Nothing is new, Matsumoto."

"But you seem more cheerful the past two days."

"I just feel better, I suppose. You think you're the only one who can get mood swings?"

"Of course not, taichou, but you're usually the stoic one in our relationship." Matsumoto ducked away from the icy blue glare. Hitsugaya sighed his usual resignation. Matsumoto stretched and added, "You sure nothing is new in your life?"

"Matsumoto," he warned.

"Fine, fine..." Another freezing glare. Matsumoto smiled. "Fine, ta-i-cho-u."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya brooded on the roof. Again.

He let his senses relax. The sounds of traffic drifted up. In this overbright town he missed the stars; only the moon hung sickly yellow overhead.

"Hey."

Hitsugaya almost stumbled off the roof. "Jeez! Stop creeping up behind me."

It was the girl again. How in the world had she evaded his senses? He looked closer. Her reiatsu radiated off in waves, a bright mini-nova in a world of flickering candles.

She wrapped her arms about herself. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Huh? Oh, um... I was thinking."

"Well, so was I." She shifted from foot to foot. Her gaze was nailed to Hitsugaya's shoes. "Listen, um... I thought about this afternoon and I'm really sorry about losing my temper like that."

"It's all right. I'm not taking it to heart."

They sat down in companionable silence, two and a half feet apart. A long moment later, the girl spoke up.

"You're humming."

"Am not."

"Quit being defensive. And it's a nice tune, by the way."

"I wasn't humming."

"Yeah, yeah..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They met again that weekend.

It was intentional. She had asked to meet him in the park.

"So... what now?" he asked, hands in his pockets.

The girl's foot pushed on the grass. "I was wondering if I could spend today asking questions."

"Okay. You want to do it here?"

"Oh, no, I'll treat you to lunch and everything," she hastily corrected his assumption. "I just didn't want daddy and my brother to see me meeting up with a guy. They'll misinterpret."

"I see."

She led the way to a little cafe. It was a cozy place, with simple, homely furniture that appealed to Hitsugaya's homely tastes and the fragrance of herbal tea wafting about the room.

"What would you two like?" The shopkeeper asked cheerily as they sat at a corner table. "The peppermint tea and chocolate cookies are very recommended."

"We'll try them out then," said the brunette. She fiddled with her fingers until Hitsugaya smiled. "What?"

"That would be my question," Hitsugaya answered. "What do you want to ask?"

"... I'm trying to organize my thoughts. It's just... now that you're here to answer my questions I don't know what to ask." She scratched her eyebrow.

Perhaps it was because this was the first time Hitsugaya saw her without her cap, but she had lovely eyes. Animated, large, liquid, emotive, dark... no one he knew had eyes like this.

The shopkeeper broke into his reverie. "Here's your tea and here are your cookies. Enjoy!"

The girl took one and nibbled. 

He tried one out. It was not too bad, a tad too sweet for his palate. 

She brushed her hair back behind her ears. 

He sipped the tea.

"What are you, exactly?" she blurted out.

"Shinigami, captain of the tenth division in Seireitei."

"... should I ask what Seireitei is?"

"Just a place for shinigami." Hitsugaya sipped his tea again. "It's where I live and work."

"But you're here," she said, absentmindedly playing with a packet of sugar. "If you're a shinigami, how can you be alive as well?"

"It's a... what you and everyone else see now is my gigai. It's a faux body for my spirit to inhabit when I'm operating in the human world."

"Can all ghosts use this... gigai thingy?"

Hitsugaya paused reflectively. "I think there shouldn't be a problem."

"So... if I can find a gigai, I can put a soul into it and they'd be alive?"

Hitsugaya exhaled. "Are you trying to bring someone back from the grave?" She said nothing but looked at the sugar grains scattered on the table. "It's not wise to do so."

"I don't care about being wise. I care about not having my mum with me."

The admission seemed to have shocked the girl as much as it surprised Hitsugaya. She flushed to the tips of her dark hair, her fingers now laced so tightly the cup of her palms was practically watertight. He hesitated before pushing the cookies to her. She gave a short snort of laughter before nibbling at one again.

"Your mother... when did she pass away?"

"Long enough for me to start forgetting."

"That's not the entire truth, is it?"

"... just answer my question. Please." Dark eyes met blue ones. "So can ghosts become 'alive' in a gigai?"

"No. They'll still be dead people. Like me." Hitsugaya put down his cup. "Look, the thing is, people who are dead have to remain dead, or else the balance of the world would be... off. Unbalanced."

"Are all shinigami dead?"

"Yeah. You don't get to be a shinigami without being in Soul Society first, and to be in Soul Society is to be dead."

The girl's eyes unfocused. "... So he's dead too?"

"Who?"

"... I need to confirm something. I'm sorry, I have to go." She went to the cashier and paid up before running off. Hitsugaya finished his tea and followed.

The girl's reiatsu signature burned a neon-bright trace in the air. Hitsugaya cursed under his breath and followed. He managed to catch up and grab her, both panting from their hectic run. 

"Wait, wait up. Why are you rushing off?"

"My brother is dead. I have to see him! He's dead and he didn't tell me! I'm gonna kill him!"

"Whoa. Whoa. If he was dead, how can he tell you? And how do you plan to kill a dead man?"

"Because he's alive. He's walking about and everything, and he dresses like you – without the white coat. So if all shinigami were ghosts, that means my brother is a ghost, and he's dead, and then I'd have to tell daddy and Yuzu and..." she started to babble her fears incoherently. 

Hitsugaya's grip on her thin shoulders tightened. "Calm down. You're not making sense. Calm down!"

"I can't! I can't! My brother's dead. Don't tell me to calm down!"

_Damn._ Hitsugaya shook her but she was still insisting on her brother being dead because he was wearing a shinigami outfit – _her brother is Kurosaki. Her brother is Kurosaki!_

Seeing that she was working herself into hysteria, Hitsugaya hugged her. Tight. Then he bent his head and kissed her. 

She stopped moving, frozen by the touch of his lips on hers. He pulled away, sort of embarrassed and sort of annoyed.

"Your brother is Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"Y-yes."

He exhaled, thinking about how much information to share. At last he continued, "He's not dead. He is a shinigami, but he's not a dead man."

"You sure?" This was not the confident, brash girl that had approached him on those other occasions. This was a young girl seeking reassurance.

Hitsugaya smiled. "Yes. I'm sure. I know him personally. Orange-haired idiot with a short temper and a shorter attention span, right?"

The girl laughed softly. It was a nice laugh, not too girly. "You know Ichigo. Then you must be telling the truth. You are... telling the truth, right?"

"I am."

Then he realized he still held her by the shoulders. As if she were made of red-hot lava he dropped his hands. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna go back. Unless you have more questions."

"... I do, but that's not important anymore." She smiled. It was a shaky smile, but it was there. "Th-thank you."

"For?"

"For answering."

They stood at the intersection, incredibly awkward. 

"I, uh, will need to go. Home," she said, pointing at the lane behind Hitsugaya.

He scratched his temple. "Yeah. And I'll head that way." He indicated his right.

They stood for another two minutes before she stepped past him and he turned down his path. Quite suddenly he halted, and ran after the brunette. "I have a question."

"What?"

"What's your name?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N: ficlet for Hitsugaya. By now you should know who the girl is, and one major assumption is that the football episode didn't happen. 

Reviews please!


	2. It's Not A Problem

He paced his room. Then he would stop and think, then he'd start pacing again.

"Hitsugaya-san, is Matsumoto-san here?"

Hitsugaya halted in his steps. "Inoue? Uh... I think she went shopping. Again."

"Oh." Inoue Orihime went into the dinky kitchen to prepare dinner. She popped her head out again. "You have a very nice voice, Hitsugaya-san. You should try singing."

"What are you talking about?"

"I just thought the tune you were humming was very sweet." Inoue smiled brightly as she disappeared behind the wall.

He was humming again? Thankfully his lieutenant wasn't around, or else she'd go on and on about it. He headed out the door. "Inoue, save some rice for me. I need to go."

"Is there a hollow?" Inoue called out.

"No, just getting some fresh air." Hitsugaya slung his cobalt blue jacket over his shoulders and stepped into the cool night.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He buried his face in his hands.

_I kissed her. I kissed Kurosaki's _sister. _If Hinamori found out, what would she say? What should _I_ say? Did I like it? Did Karin like it? Why do I care if she liked it? I'm not going to try it again. Am I?_

He groaned again. "I can't believe I did that."

"Did what?"

Hitsugaya jumped, just a little. He snapped, "Don't approach me from behind, idiot!"

"Sorry, taichou." Matsumoto sat down, not a hint of apology on her face. "Inoue said you looked a little troubled, so I came up. And you are."

"Are what?"

"Troubled. No one should be able to sneak up on you, taichou, least of all a shinigami." She peered into his eyes. "So, spill."

"... you have to promise a few things first."

"Why?"

"You must not laugh, snicker, giggle or in any way indicate amusement. That's the first thing. Secondly, no one else is to know. No one else, which means only two persons: you and me. Promise me these two things and we can talk."

"Do I have to?" Matsumoto took one look at his face and nodded. "I promise. I swear it."

Hitsugaya fixed his gaze into the far distance. "I'm in deep trouble."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You kissed Kurosaki's sister?"

"You want a loudhailer to help you with that announcement?" Hitsugaya groused. His face was flaming red. "I didn't mean to do it."

"Oh, that makes it so much better," said his lieutenant. She patted his shoulder, which he irritably shook off. "Taichou, you don't usually screw up, but you sure come up with some dozies when you do."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Matsumoto blew a strand of hair off her face. "It's too bad you made me swear not to tell another person... this could've been the gossip of the month. What's she like?"

"Dark-haired. About my height. Very self-assured. A little too boyish. Likes to act tough. Cares a lot about her family." He hesitated for a moment. "And she bugs me."

Matsumoto's eyes grew large as he rattled off the traits. "And you knew her for barely a week?"

Hitsugaya suddenly felt nervous. "Yeah. So?"

Matsumoto exhaled, pitying the inherent stupidity of men in relationships. "I'm sorry, but no one can help you now."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya went to the Kurosaki household the next morning.

Sunday. It was supposed to be a rest day, but clinics stay open on weekends.

He remembered the part where she said her father would misinterpret, and so turned up in shinigami form. Doubtless Ichigo would see him too, but since the orange-head was out training with Renji and Rukia, he had little to worry about on that score.

"What are you doing here?" drawled a bored voice behind him.

"Stop. Doing. That!" Hitsugaya hissed. "Why do you always turn up from behind me?"

"Why is your behind always in front of me then?" questioned Karin. Her brows furrowed. "Wait. That came out wrong."

He stared at her. "You seem to be all right."

"Am I supposed to be all wrong then?" She pushed past him and went into the clinic. When he didn't follow, she asked, "Are you going to, I don't know, flow through the door or something?"

"Oh." He quickly entered. Cool air rushed over him, the hint of medicine coloring the air.

She didn't bother talking to him. Karin got busy filing records, packing up scattered magazines, rearranging cushions on the sofa... he stood in the middle of the clinic, wondering what he was supposed to do.

A middle-aged bearded man bounded out from a wooden door. "Karin-chan! So helpful to daddy today! Are you hoping for a big fatherly hug? You don't have to – ooof." Karin's punch pinned the man – her father, Hitsugaya presumed – against the door. He managed to hold out a thumbs-up. "Myf Farin-chamf faff grownf stronffer!" (Translation: "My Karin-chan has grown stronger!")

"Shut up, dad," she said, releasing her hold. She plopped a stack of folders into his arms. "You can update these medical records, and I'm done for the day. Watching a movie. Bye!" 

She winked at Hitsugaya to follow her out.

Neither of them noticed the slightly crestfallen expression on Kurosaki Isshin's face as he watched them exit. He murmured, a little sadly, "My girls are growing up."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Is it a human custom to beat up their fathers?" Hitsugaya had to know.

Karin shrugged. "Nope. just a family tradition. Brother started it, and since Yuzu is too gentle to do so I have to double my efforts." 

They strolled down the river bank again. Hitsugaya wanted to broach the subject but didn't know how.

"About yesterday." Karin stopped walking. "I'm sorry."

"Uh..." _She took the words out of my mouth._ "I apologize too."

"For?" Karin was genuinely surprised. "You did what you had to to calm me down. I don't hold that as a grudge."

_I did it impulsively, you moron. _"I didn't think before I... acted. It's just, if that had been your – uh, I mean, I was afraid I had taken your first..."

"My first kiss?" Karin grinned. "It was."

Hitsugaya was abashed to find himself blushing. Something was very wrong with the scenario. Shouldn't she be screaming and yelling at him?

"I'm not angry or anything. Not that I'm in love with you," she quickly clarified when his icy blue eyes snapped up to meet her dark ones. "I just think it could've been worse."

"The kiss could've been worse?" Hitsugaya groaned inwardly. His foot just loved living in his mouth, didn't it?

Karin chuckled. "No, it was... it was kinda nice. I meant... you're nice. Pretty good-looking, except for that perpetual frown. A lot more mature than my other guy friends. And you have a nice voice when you hum. You really should sing sometime." She rolled her eyes and got back to her original point. "I could've been kissed by someone worse than you."

"I see." He rubbed his nose reflectively. "That's a very... positive way to look at it."

"You dwell too much on the negative, it's gonna turn your hair white in no time."

Hitsugaya blinked and grinned at the zinger. "Hey!"

"See what it's done to you?" She ruffled his hair mischievously and dashed off.

"Don't touch the hair – hey!" Amused and annoyed, the captain of the tenth division chased after her.

If he had been paying attention to his surroundings, he might have noticed it was the same spot she had stopped at before to look across the river.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I saw you by the river today," Matsumoto announced the moment Hitsugaya stepped into the little apartment.

He sniffed. "I can go wherever I want, Matsumoto."

"Of course you can. And you can go with whoever you want, too."

"Were you strolling by the river with someone, Hitsugaya-san?" Inoue chirped, midway through demolishing a tower of sandwiches. "There's beautiful scenery along the path at this time of year."

"I was alone. But the scenery was nice."

Matsumoto coughed a comment into her hand. Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed dangerously. Before he could rebuke her sunny smile, both their mobiles beeped.

"Hollow or arrancar?"

"Arrancar. Near... near the Kurosakis' place!"

Hitsugaya paused by the door. "Is Ichigo around?"

"No, he, Renji and Rukia hadn't returned home yet from Soul Society." Matsumoto's eyes widened. "They can't possibly make it back in time."

Hitsugaya growled and dashed out of the apartment. His gigai held Inoue back, and Matsumoto's gigai joined in restraining Inoue as well.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin winced as the screech pierced through her eardrums. At least Yuzu and her dad were immune to such hideous noises; she herself felt like throwing up and curling into a fetal ball.

"Yuzu-chan, did you buy fish that were past due? She's clammy and cold!" This was as close to scolding as Isshin ever got to his daughters. He had Karin wrapped in a blanket and was carrying her close to his body, trying to generate heat for her shaking form.

"B-but we all ate the same fish!" Yuzu was nearing tears.

Karin stammered, "It-it's not your fault, Y-yuzu, it's n-not the fish. I just... I just feel ill sud-suddenly." _Oh god, will the wailing and screaming and screeching never stop?! It's like a thousand cats scratching on a blackboard with all their claws! _Before she could warn her father she threw up all over his favorite shirt. 

Isshin grabbed a towel and cleaned Karin up as best as he could. "Yuzu, watch her while I get the car. She needs the hospital."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The arrancar was huge. The eyes glowed with malevolent glee. The screeching it made tore into Hitsugaya's nerves, but he quickly assessed the situation.

The size of the arrancar was reassuring for Hitsugaya. If it were too humanoid, he would have a hard fight on his hands. He drew his sword and got ready to battle, when out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of Isshin Kurosaki carrying a bundled-up Karin to a car. A small light-haired girl scrambled into the backseat as well.

_What happened?_

"My prey is escaping!" The arrancar howled and slithered after it, trailing slime in its wake. Hitsugaya shudder with revulsion. He hated the slimy ones.

"Stand and fight, maggot breath!" Okay, not the best battle cry, but he was dedicating his mind to the car now racing away. The arrancar reared and hissed at the white-haired shinigami, before emitting a shriek that made Hitsugaya's head spin. A jet of liquid shot out, and Hitsugaya ducked away.

The liquid hissed and sputtered into the asphalt surface of the road, creating a brand new pothole.

Hitsugaya sighed and muttered, "Always the acid. It's always the acid."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin thought she was dreaming when the lean figure squeezed through the window of her ward. "You're here?"

"Yeah." He sat down beside her bed, on the chair conveniently left by her father. Isshin had taken Yuzu back home under Karin's insistent orders, and the director of the hospital had more or less chased the Kurosaki father out of the ward. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I heard a hellish shrieking and wailing, then I started trembling and, to complete the humiliation, threw up over daddy's shirt."

Hitsugaya folded his arms over his chest. "You ever felt this before?"

"Once. There was a possessed cockatrice."

He mulled over his thoughts. She closed her eyes, her usual healthy glow pale and wan under moonlight and shadows. She had long lashes, Hitsugaya realized, then shook his mind back to the original train of thought. _Karin has high sensitivity to spirits. She has the same blood as Ichigo, so no surprise there. But why the hugely negative reaction?_

"Why am I in hospital?"

"I thought it was because you-"

"No, moron," hissed Karin. She softened her tone when she saw his anger. "I meant, why is it that, just by the presence of... whatever it was, I end up in hospital?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "I don't know." He unfolded his arms and steepled his fingers. "My guess is, your reiatsu is not... developed enough to withstand the clash between yours and the arrancars..."

"Whoa... I have no idea what you just said. Are you going to provide me with a chart and handy diagrams to illustrate your points? Or do I have to guess at their definitions?"

"If you weren't lying in a hospital bed I'd smack you for being rude." He was done being nice.

"If I weren't lying in a hospital bed I'd welcome you to try." She sat up and growled.

They glared at each other. The moonlight softened her features, part of Hitsugaya realized; she looked almost... mysterious. The defiant air was in definite contrast to the humor in her eyes, and her fingers – long, slim fingers – clutched at the blanket over her legs..

"What are you doing?" she whispered. Hitsugaya was taken aback when he saw his right hand caressing Karin's cheek. 

He withdrew it abruptly. "I was... I was, um. I should go. You need rest."

"Wait." Large eyes, like pools of night. She got out of the bed. The pyjamas she had on was unexpectedly cute: pictures of sushi ran in neat diagonal rows. Hitsugaya's focus was elsewhere when she pecked him on the cheek.

"Wha-what?" He was seldom at a loss for words. He was now.

Karin's grin was as simple and as upbeat as it was that same afternoon. "I know you were there earlier. Thanks for... doing whatever it is you do with that monster. I thought it would follow us in the car."

"You saw...?"

"In the windshield mirror. I wanted to stop but daddy insisted I needed my stomach pumped, in case I got poisoned or something."

"Oh. Erm."

"You gotta go."

"Yes. Right. You take care now." He put one leg out onto the ledge. "Be careful."

"I will."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Pretending to have waited downstairs all the while, Matsumoto hid a small smile. Now this was something she could share with the gang.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I want you to find out everything about Kurosaki Karin, Matsumoto." 

The lieutenant raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

Hitsugaya scowled blackly. "Or you can audit our purchase records from the year A.D 1900 until now."

"I'm on the Kurosaki job." The buxomy strawberry blonde scooted off the couch in record time.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Why are you spying on me?"

Hitsugaya didn't even bother to turn around. "I wasn't spying. I'm right here."

Karin kicked him in the backside. Hitsugaya jumped to his feet. 

"You might want to show a little more respect, girl," he warned. "I'm older than you by a lot of years."

"And as an older person you should show _me _respect!" Karin's baseball cap obscured her eyes. Her hands were planted on her slim hips. "You sent that woman, didn't you? The one who's been asking my idiot daddy about me, all the while flashing her, her boobs at him!"

Hitsugaya groaned. "That bloody idiot..." He raised his hands. "Look, I did ask Matsumoto to find out more about you so I could determine how I can help you deal with the... nausea and the trembling whenever one of the arrancar showed up. I didn't ask her to seduce your father in her investigation."

"Like she could," scoffed Karin.

Hitsugaya nodded at the ladder she planted against the roof. "You carried that by yourself?"

"I got someone to help me."

"I think I found a way to help you." Hitsugaya didn't smile. "It will be difficult and probably painful though."

Karin didn't hesitate. "I'm game. How?"

"You're going to become a shinigami."


	3. Not Quite The Same

"You have got to be kidding."

Hitsugaya folded his arms across his chest. "Have you met me? I'm the tenth division captain. I don't kid."

Urahara sighed theatrically, his fan snapping shut. "She's too young," he hissed at Hitsugaya. "And shouldn't you talk this over with Ichigo as well?"

"No," Hitsugaya said, his eyes flicking to where Karin was yelling at Jinta, and the hapless Ururu was trying to calm them both down. "I know she's young, but we do have the time to train a potentially strong shinigami."

"She's a kid. She shouldn't be involved in this."

"She lives in Karakura and she's a Kurosaki. She is already involved."

"You're making a huge assumption here, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I'm taking the same risk you did when you took the orange-haired idiot in as your apprentice."

"He wasn't my apprentice," Urahara clarified. Then he sighed again. "I'll let you use my basement, but I'm not taking any part in this venture. I don't want Ichigo and her f... friends to blame me for killing Karin."

"I'm not going to kill her," protested the white-haired captain.

"You might end up doing so nonetheless."

"I won't."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin pointed at Jinta's nose. "You're the one who's deluded, moron. I'm Karakura Red, and always will be!"

"Red? You? Don't make me laugh! You're the weakest of the group," growled Jinta. The broom waved over his head, dirt and dust sprinkling over himself. "Eurgh!"

"Ha! A Karakura Red that doesn't even know how to use a broom!" sneered Karin.

Ururu tried to get them to stop, but her meek voice was unheard over the insults being flung from boy to girl to boy.

"What are they arguing about?" Ururu jumped when she heard Hitsugaya's voice beside her.

"Some... ranking thing we have, Hitsugaya-taichou. They both want to be Karakura Red."

"Is red the strongest?"

"Yes. At least it's supposed to be until Kanonji-san added a Karakura Gold."

"... From what I heard you should be Red." He gave her a small smile.

Ururu brightened. "Really?"

Hitsugaya didn't deny it. He hollered, "Karin Kurosaki! Come here!"

"Don't yell my full name, idiot!" Karin snapped at him. Then she shrank back when he threw her the evil eye. "I meant, I heard you, _sir_."

"A Red calling someone else sir..." Jinta drawled. Karin narrowed her eyes, then smiled so sweetly that Urahara and Hitsugaya were both taken aback.

"You know, Yuzu was thinking of switching grocery stores. Perhaps I should encourage her to try the shop down the road. This place is shabby _and _overpriced..."

"The Goddess Yuzu? You wouldn't do that," said Jinta urgently. "Tell me you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't. Would you?"

"Provide us with good food and drink and we'll see," Karin said. The smile grew into a grin and a wink at Hitsugaya, who groaned and shook his head.

If she was this manipulative at this age, what would she be like at seventeen?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So. What am I supposed to do?"

Hitsugaya sat cross legged on a rock. "I'm gonna push your soul out of your body. Ever experience it before?"

"No." She looked around. "And this is a frikkin' huge basement. Did my brother train here too?"

"Focus, Karin." Her dark eyes returned to his face, and he noted the slight hesitation behind the bored drawl. He relented. "Yes, Ichigo did train here. He's now training elsewhere."

"Hitsugaya-taichou! What are you doing here?"

Karin watched the tall redhead stride over, dressed in the same black robes as her brother did. Behind the stranger was someone familiar...

"You're Ichigo's sister." The broad-shouldered dark-haired teenager said.

"You're the guy who almost got killed and then disappeared without a trace and didn't even bother to come find us to say he's all right. My name's Karin."

"Sado."

Hitsugaya was amused. "You just rattled that off in one breath."

Karin shrugged. "It's a talent."

"Someone forget about me?" the redhead said. He stretched a hand out to Karin. "Abarai Renji."

"Kurosaki Karin. Nice tattoos."

"Thanks. You're the idiot's sister? You look smarter than he is."

"Not that hard a feat to manage, really," Karin deadpanned. Abarai reminded her of Ichigo. "How did you get to know my brother?"

"I almost killed him, he almost killed me, we almost got killed by the same bastard." Off Karin's look, Abarai shrugged. "It's a guy bonding thing."

"Yeah. Only guys can be that stupid."

Hitsugaya's reproving glare probably lasered its way through the back of Karin's head. She ducked and muttered, "Fine, fine... My bad."

"Abarai, I'm going to train her here. You two stay far away from us with your bankai and the blasts from your arm."

"She's going to be a shinigami?" Sado asked.

Hitsugaya nodded. "Don't tell Ichigo yet until I'm certain she can work out."

"Standing right here," Karin protested. The 'stupid guys' ignored her and discussed something else for a while before Abarai and Sado walked off.

"Where was I?" Hitsugaya returned his attention to Karin.

"Pushing my soul out of my body. But if my soul's out of my body, won't I be dead?"

"First of all we need to see if you can move about easily as a spirit. Otherwise it is better for you not to train as a shinigami."

"So? De-soul me already." She clasped her hands behind her back. _Hope it won't hurt._

Hitsugaya had borrowed a glove from Urahara, and he yanked Karin out of Karin.

"Okay, that was weird." Karin fell to her knees abruptly. She ignored the chain in the center of her chest."Is it always so difficult to breathe in soul form? I feel like... Like I'm under water of something."

"Now's the time to find out if you can make the grade," Hitsugaya ignored her question. He passed her a large pail of water balloons. "If you can tag me with any one of these, we'll move on to the next stage."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin hefted one in her hand. _It can't possibly weigh a ton_, she told herself. Her arm told her otherwise. _Maybe I should have trained as a baseball player instead._

"Ready? Go."

Hitsugaya was at least twenty paces away. He was not even running, Karin noted. So he looked down on her, huh?

She hurled the one in her hand as hard as she could. In theory it should soar and hit her target. Instead it fell to the ground and, to her embarrassed anger, didn't even burst.

"I'm waiting."

Karin gritted her teeth. She could do this. Closing her eyes, she visualized the water balloon _cruising in a perfect arc, landing on Hitsugaya's white hair, water dripping down his arrogant face_...

"I'm still waiting."

"Oh yes you are," she murmured under her breath. She opened her eyes and threw the next one. It did fly through the air but landed halfway between her target and herself. She sighed and took a third one.

"Ready when you are," he called out. He had actually sat down. Karin fumed.

_No one said you had to throw these, dumbass. He said 'tag him'._

_Who is this talking in my head?_

_Yourself, dumbass. Go on. Your strength is in your speed and your kick, not some lamebrain throwing. What did you think this was, Slam Dunk?_

Karin inhaled and took more water balloons with her left hand. _Here goes nothing._

She ran. Hitsugaya got to his feet and sidestepped smartly, and in a flash he was gone. Karin frowned and hung a U. Hitsugaya was right beside the pail of her ammunition. She dashed again, her right hand holding the water balloon by her hip. 

He had a little smirk on his face, she noticed. Then she smiled and threw the balloon in her left hand. Hitsugaya ducked away, eyebrows raised in polite surprise. Before he could speak she had dropped the water balloon in her right hand and was balancing it on her foot.

"How are you going to kick that?" he inquired. "You'll burst it when you kick it."

"There are other techniques in football, kiddo," she answered, and, with a slight dip of her foot, sent the orb soaring. He ducked that one but was almost hit by one falling over the ceiling.

"Missed me-"

Karin was by his side, her last water balloon touching his shoulder. "Tag. You're it."

"You feel any difficulty moving now?"

"What?" Karin was expecting him to retaliate, not a question. She inhaled, exhaled, swung her arms. "No. I feel just as like I usually do... you got tagged on purpose!" Her eyes widened with indignant realization.

Hitsugaya's smile was _just a little bit_ patronizing.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Urahara watched the two training pairs from his place near the ladder.

"I like the idea of water balloons," he admitted to Tessai. "But it's a lot more fun to have Ururu beat the crap out of Ichigo, no?"

"Right you are, boss."

Urahara unfolded his fan. "Ask Yoruichi to come by here, will ya? I think her input would be valuable. The girl... if I'm not wrong, and I hope I'm not... the girl will need Yoruichi's guidance."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx 

Karin doodled in the sand. "How did he cart all the sand and rocks away anyway?"

"I've no idea. Focus, Karin."

"Yes, _sir_." 

The drawl was not lost on the captain. He rapped her over the head with his zanpakuto. Hitsugaya said, "I'm going to cut this chain. It effectively means you're dead – and you won't be able to go back into your body without becoming a shinigami or a hollow."

"Hollow... you mean those monsters with the skull masks?"

"Yes. That's what you will turn into if you don't become shinigami by the end of three days."

"How are you going to force the shinigami part out of me?"

"We'll seal you into a pit. You can turn out as a hollow and I will perform the soul burial on you, or you can turn shinigami and come out of there yourself. I'd prefer the second option."

"Me too." She stretched and worked the kinks out of her neck. "So who's doing the sealing?"

"I am."

Karin turned about. Her jaw dropped, but only for the five seconds it took for her to regain her composure. 

Hitsugaya scowled. "I thought Urahara said he was keeping out of this?"

"He said he was. I didn't say I won't help. Karin, is it?"

Karin found her voice. "You're a cat."

"That I am," the black feline said smoothly. "You have a problem with that?"

"No. Not at all. Just... trying to absorb the fact that_ a cat is talking to me_!" She breathed out. "Okay. Now I'm okay."

"She's just like her brother-"

"-don't compare me to that idiot, alright?"

Yoruichi murmured below her breath and Karin's arms snapped to her sides. Soon a pit yawned before the prone Karin's face.

"That's where I'm headed?"

"Yes." Hitsugaya carried her over his shoulders and jumped in. He had surprisingly broad shoulders, Karin thought irreverently, then her mind shrieked as he tossed her onto the cool floor. He looked at her once more, almost coldly, and said, "I'm cutting your chain now. It will start disintegrating. If it reaches the lock in your chest, you become a hollow. Don't let it happen."

"It won't," said Karin, sounding more confident than she felt. He took out his sword and stabbed through the links. She took in a shuddering breath. "Here it goes."

_I won't die here._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You really dug an unbelievable shaft, Ururu," said Yoruichi as Hitsugaya sprinted out of the pit.

The youngest captain sat by the edge. "Yoruichi-san, what binding spell did you use?"

"The nineties." Yoruichi padded over to the watchful captain. "She's almost as strong as Ichigo. How come we didn't feel that before?"

"Because the orange-haired idiot's reiatsu masked everyone else's." Hitsugaya grunted. "I don't know if I'm doing the right thing here."

"We need all the strength we can get, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I'm risking her life."

The black cat curled up beside him, her long tail twitching. Hitsugaya smiled as her warm furry body pressed into his leg.

"You don't want to pet a fuzzy animal? Give a kitty a furry belly rub?"

"You're naked, Yoruichi-san. I think it's improper."

"Hmmph. You're no fun."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin stilled her breath. The links chewing themselves out – she'd never seen the phrase used literally until now – wore her out. At least now they were quiescent.

She got to her feet. No point trying to run up the pit; it was pretty much a vertical climb. She could feel energy draining out of her, and she was dying for a drink.

But then, she was dead, wasn't she? How could she still be thirsty?

"I need to become shinigami," she told herself. "Find a way, brain."

Her anger rose. Shouldn't Hitsugaya have told her more? Like, how was she supposed to know what to chant or do or sing to become a shinigami?

_It's because you're supposed to know instinctively._

_Is this my head talking to me again? Because this is getting creepy._

_Okay, fine, call me Karin v2.0 then._

_Whatever. How the hell am I supposed to do this?_

_Look inside you. Which part of you do you think is meant to be your strength? How do you know you're meant to be a shinigami instead of a hollow?_

_I'm Ichigo's sister. Of course I'm a shinigami._

_'Of course'? Yuzu is Ichigo's sister too, and she ain't here._

_I'm better at fighting._

_So?_

_I'm better at controlling my emotions._

_So?_

_I'm great at football._

_So?_

_I'm... I know I can do this. I know I am meant to help my idiot brother out._

_I know I'm a shinigami, because..._

_Because?_

"It's in my blood," Karin whispered. Her dark eyes snapped open. Her skin was buzzing. "I'm a shinigami because it is in my blood."

She looked up. She could not tell how long it had since been. Out of the blue the pain began again: the links were disintegrating. She had about half a meter left of chain.

Karin shivered and shook as the links ate themselves up. Her vision grew fuzzy and the pit faded from view.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Took you long enough, dimwit!"

Karin's patience snapped. Her eyes opened and her breath caught in her throat. This was a beautiful place.

"I'm in an ocean," she whispered. Coral of multiple hues waved below her; fish swam by, their fins flashing silver-gold-silver-gold. "I'm breathing and talking in an ocean."

"Yeah, yeah, wonderful world... focus here, will ya?"

Karin blinked and finally noticed the person talking to her. Karin blinked again. "What in the world are you?"

"Be polite, girlie. I'm fdasrnklrn." He swished his silver-green tail. Long tendrils of sea-blue hair flowed with each movement he made, the elegance of which contrasted sharply with his sarcastic tone and abrasive manner.

"You're who or what again?"

"Urgh. I hate these rules. Now, in a moment something's gonna happen. Find the odd one out. That's about as much as I can say."

"What? What's gonna happen?"

The entire ocean shook, as if someone had thrown a pebble two hundred miles across into it. Karin felt herself tumble end over end.

The merman hollered, his musical voice rippling, "That!"


	4. Not Quite Different

She felt seasick. And she was tumbling in an ocean in what she believed was her mind.

Not a good confluence of events.

And what the hell did that merman mean by 'Find the odd one out'? The only odd one was him!

Giant bubbles rose past her, and she could barely keep track of where she was facing. Up and down, left and right... all seemed to blend together into one tight motion sickness package.

_I'm so going to kick that bloody, arrogant, know-it-all, snowy-haired kid's ass! He never mentioned this!_

She tried to follow the bubbles with her eyes. There didn't seem to be a surface. The bubbles just kept rising... and there was one that wobbled just a teensy bit slower than the rest.

"Odd one out, huh?" Karin steadied herself and kicked towards the wobbling bubble. There was a slight tint to it, almost... pearl-like. She grabbed it, almost losing hold of the slippery surface.

She waited, balancing herself in the turbulent flow. And waited. And waited.

Finally she lost her temper. "What the effing heck am I supposed to do with this thing?!" she hollered.

"Relax, will ya?" The merman swam up to Karin. "Geez... I didn't think you'd find it so fast."

"Just what am I supposed to do with this?" Karin demanded. Her fingers clamped tightly onto the surface.

"Break it."

Karin's eyes narrowed. "That's it?"

"You want to mate with it instead?" the merman drawled the question, and completely missed seeing Karin's glare turn into daggers.

She gripped it with her right hand and smashed it into the merman's smirking face. 

"Effin' hell!" the merman shrieked, holding his nose. Dark green blood diffused into the water. "You can't smash it against your own head, girlie?"

"Since you're here, I might as well make use of you." Karin said nonchalantly. The pearl-bubble cracked and two long cobalt tassels wrapped themselves about her wrist. "What do I do now?"

"Yank, stupid." At Karin's raised eyebrow the merman raised both hands in defense. "Just pull the two cords."

Karin began to tug, then stopped. "What's your name again?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There was no smoke or dust billowing. All there was was a shout and then silence.

Kurosaki Karin sprawled in the pit, either asleep or unconscious. Hitsugaya and Yoruichi peered over the edge. Ururu had her special Gatling gun ready. 

The Kurosaki girl was already in a black shingami outfit, but there was something odd about her clothes. Hitsugaya noted the sword that Karin gripped in her hand: a shirasaya, a sword with no guard.

"It's remarkable," Yoruichi commented. "Two days, and barely a struggle."

"And hardly any disturbance in the force too." Urahara joined the three. "Ururu, we're not going to need that."

"B-but the last time Ichigo-san..."

"She's not Ichigo," Hitsugaya cut in abruptly. He hadn't lifted his gaze from the pit. As Urahara and Yourichi exchanged looks, the slight-statured captain got to his feet. "Yoruichi-san, shall we head down?"

"We shall after I lift the binding spell." The black feline padded to the edge and jumped. Hitsugaya followed a split-second after.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Urahara asked Tessai to set lunch for two. Yoruichi deigned to return to her human form to join him for the meal.

"Hitsugaya seems to know how to train shinigami better than you do, Kisuke."

Urahara chewed on his squid thoughtfully. His hat was not on his head. "I wonder why that is."

Yoruichi passed her empty bowl to Jinta to fill. "Well, my guess? Because he explains before he starts the test. Karin didn't have to waste time and energy on panic."

"But panic is a great motivator, Yourichi."

"Yeah, it motivates them to panic even more," zinged Yoruichi. She asked for another refill. "And from what I heard, Ichigo took a very long time to get your explanations into his thick head. Especially since he was panicking half the time."

Urahara quirked a smile. "He's kind of dumb, in case you didn't notice."

"I know he is. But sometimes, Kisuke, you can be as dense as the boy."

"Why do you say that?"

Yoruichi grinned as she held out her bowl for a third refill. "You mean you haven't noticed?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Yuutsubame," repeated Hitsugaya. "Wandering cloud?"

Karin shrugged. "That's what I heard. From the fishman's mouth."

He handed the sword back to Karin. "It's good that you know his name."

Karin's eyes goggled. She held the blade at arm's length. "So the fishman was – is – the sword itself? Wow. It's almost like a fantasy story."

The shirasaya looked like a length of wood, lacquered black. On the sheath Karin could see the name etched into the lacquer in cobalt blue, shimmering like the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. If only the spirit of the sword was a little more refined than the snarky fishman...

"Focus, Karin." Hitsugaya tapped her on the head. "Third stage: your sword's no use to you unless you know how to use it. I am going to attack you. I will try to kill you."

"And you're not smiling."

"I'm not joking."

"Kill me with?"

"With my sword. A note to the wise: I will not hold back." He pinned her with his clear blue eyes. "I might end up really killing you – and there won't be a coming back."

Karin swallowed, her fear welling up. He waited. Then a slow, confident grin spread on her face. "I won't let you."

Hitsugaya felt a rare smile creep onto his face. "Good. Say that again if you don't die. _Soten ni zase, Hourinmaru._"

_Oh crap_, Karin groaned inwardly. She drew her sword and aimed... then turned and ran. For her life.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Boss. Yoruichi-san."

"Tessai. What do you want?"

"Hitsugaya-taichou has started stage three. He has released his blade."

Urahara sprayed Coca-cola across the room. "Already?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yoruichi reached the bottom of the ladder first. "Ururu! How long has it been?"

"Two minutes, Yoruichi-san," the doe-eyed girl informed her. "He hasn't landed a blow yet."

Urahara held his hat on. Icicles grew from the ceiling far overhead, and frost glistened over his imported rocks and modified terrain. "He's still holding back."

"You were right," Yoruichi commented as her dark eyes tracked the twos chase across the spacious basement. Renji and Sado were hiding not far from where the shopkeeper was, also observing the tenth division captain's pursuit.

"Right about what? Panic being a great motivator?"

"No." She started to grin. "The reason why I should be here.."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Why the hell am I running?_

_How am I supposed to know, girlie? You really think I'm so weak I can't handle that dragon there?_

_Dragon?_

_The sword, stupid. I can't believe I actually have you for an owner._

_I'm talking to my _sword

_Look, girlie, this is humiliating. Try fighting him._

_I can't! I can feel his blade at my neck every time I slow down!_

_Then put your blade on his neck. Let him feel the fear._

_Easy to say._

_Or you can choose to die. It's the easiest way out of this conundrum._

Karin sneaked a glance backward. He was about to leap, the ice-wings poised for flight. She put on another burst of speed.

_I'm NOT going to die!_

_Then fight, dammit!_

_How can I fight a captain? _

_Is that the reason? Maybe that's why he's taking it easy on ya. He's holding back, can't you see?_

She bit the tip of her tongue and skidded to a stop. Hitsugaya landed just in front of her. He wasn't even panting, Karin noticed. He _was _holding back.

_He is so gonna regret holding back. Help me out here, fishface._

_Hey. I don't intend to die either, okay? Get ready. This is what you say._

"_Gekido, Yuutsubame_!" She swung her shirasaya in an upward arc. A rush of water – a lot of water, Karin noted abstractly - rushed towards her opponent. 

_One more, girlie. That one isn't enough - _

Karin's eyes widened as the torrent turned into blocks of ice in seconds. The captain was soaring over the wall of solid water, a slight smirk playing on his face. She gritted her teeth.

_Next one, fishman._

"_Sashimasu_." A thin jet shot out and hit the emerging Hitsugaya right in the chest. The wings took the brunt of the attack, but to Karin's shocked amazement the wings shattered and the jet shoved the captain right into the icicle-covered ceiling. 

_He's gonna get impaled!_

In a panic Karin pulled her sword to the side, mentally berating herself for injuring her frei – her trainer. "Are you alright?"

"Watch where you're pointing your sword, moron!"

She turned to see that a deep crimson shield was blocking the thin jet, and hastily tried to rein in her zanpakuto. _Stop it fishface! We're done!_

_I thought you meant to kill him! Fine, fine. Have it your way._

The shield dissolved. The shopkeeper shook his head. "That was pretty powerful, Karin-san. You don't me calling you that, do you? Because there are just too many Kurosaki-sans that I know."

"Not a ... problem," she yawned and toppled over into a deep sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya tended to Hourinmaru. Mostly he tended to its pride.

Being defeated – even if Hitsugaya had been holding back – made the zanpakuto very cranky. And Hitsugaya loved his sword deeply.

On a little mattress in the Urahara shop Karin snoozed. Hitsugaya observed her sleeping face, and was oddly captivated by the play of light on her shiny hair, the way her arms crossed over her chest, the rise and fall of her even breathing.

"The Kurosaki girl's sister is outside," Jinta popped his head into the room, where Hitsugaya, Urahara, Yoruichi and Matsumoto were conversing. "She's asking if we've seen her sister."

"Tell her nothing." Hitsugaya's tone was firm. He looked into Urahara's eyes and the older man nodded at Jinta.

Yoruichi spoke up. "Urahara, you'll need to talk to Kurosaki about Karin. He has the right to know."

"Ichigo? No one knows where he is." Matsumoto spoke up.

Urahara appeared not to have heard the lieutenant's question. "Yoruichi-san, inform Rukia as well, since she's staying with them. I'll look for him tonight."

Matsumoto exchanged doubtful looks with Hitsugaya. The captain sighed. "Let them do what they think is best."

"But taichou..."

"It'll get back to him anyway. Sado and Abarai were downstairs as well." He returned to the topic that they were discussing before the interruption. "Was my surmise correct?"

"You were," conceded Yoruichi. "I've never met a shinigami who is as adept as she is at this level. She's essentially a beginner, and already she has a sword and can converse easily with it. That is highly unusual."

"Her reiatsu level possibly surpasses her brother's too," Urahara put in. "But, judging from observation, she has been suppressing it through denial. Also, when your brother's is such an overwhelming fountain, you tend to overcontrol lest the rest of the family becomes cracked from the pressure."

Hitsugaya chewed on his lower lip. "So? Do we have time?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin felt like she had played in every match through the 2008 World Cup soccer tournament. Her muscles ached and burned and her head swam.

Had it all been a fevered dream? Was she still in the hospital, having been through a food poisoning episode?

She opened her eyes. The ceiling was in an unfamiliar pattern. So it was not a dream. She sat up, her dark hair falling before her eyes. Pushing her bangs out of her face, she realized she was back in her body. Her human body.

"You're awake," cooed a busty, strawberry-blonde woman. Karin's eyes narrowed with recognition. The woman held out a right hand, saying, "I'm Matsumoto Rangiku. I've heard so little about you that I had to come see you! Call me Rangiku, or Ran."

"We've seen each other before. At the clinic. Where you were trying to seduce my dad into giving you information about me." Karin felt too exhausted to snap.

Rangiku pouted. "Taichou never mentioned you having a bad temper."

"I never mentioned her to you, Matsumoto, except for that one time which you're supposed to keep mum about," said Hitsugaya warningly as he entered the room. To Karin, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired to the bone."

"That's natural, considering that you managed to become a shinigami, conversed with your sword, and drove me back with your attack."

Karin said drowsily, "You were holding back. You said you wouldn't." Not an accusation, merely a statement. Matsumoto watched her captain's face redden.

Hitsugaya's reply was slightly abashed. "I didn't want to hurt you. So I just pulsed killing intent and reiatsu."

His answer was a small snore. Karin was drooping forward, asleep again.

Matsumoto's eyebrows raised mischievously. "Taichou, you were holding back?"

"She's a new shingami. I couldn't be attacking her with full force, could I? I might have killed her."

"Nope. No you couldn't," she answered innocently.

"I couldn't," Hitsugaya insisted.

"No. You really couldn't."

"Shut up, Matsumoto."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Karin trudged wearily back home she was roundly scolded and roughly embraced.

Yuzu's shrill berating followed Karin all the way to the bedroom, where Rukia was perched on the bed.

"You're back," Rukia said, her smile warm and approving.

"Yeah."

"Karin-chan!! Here's your favorite snack: bananas with chocolate! I also made an ice-cream sundae we can share and bond over!" Isshin Kurosaki bounded into the room, expertly sidestepping the third bed in the already overcrowded room.

Karin couldn't find it in herself to reject her father. "Thanks, daddy. I'm kinda beat, so I'll just have the sundae, okay?"

The megawatt smile on her father's face was kind of reassuring, Karin mused to herself as she made her way down the stairs.

"By the way, since Ichigo's out, do you want to sleep in his room for now? Three girls in the same room is really too crowded."

"Why not Rukia?"

"Because she's not Ichigo's girlfriend or sister. And Yuzu always preferred having two persons in the same room. So, Karin-chan?" Isshin's eyes twinkled. "Let your brother know he's disowned?"

She debated it in her heart for a while. "Okay. I'll move in later tonight."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya folded the laundry.

Not every item, of course. He had no desire to touch Matsumoto's or Inoue's underthings, even though Kyoraku had asked him to sneak a few pairs of thongs for the eighth division captain. Matsumoto had been incredulous when her captain chipped in the housework duties, but Hitsugaya felt that he had to work off some of the obligations.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, what's the name of the tune?" Inoue inquired brightly as she folded the more 'sensitive' items.

Rats. He was humming again. He really had to nip the habit in the bud. With barely-contained irritation directed at himself, he answered, "It's from a long time ago. The name is... I think it's something about wildflowers and summertime."

"That's so sweet," gushed the brown-haired girl. "Are there lyrics?"

"Not that I remember," Hitsugaya said hastily. He knew the words, but he was mortally afraid the exuberant Inoue would ask him to sing it for her. 

He would never, never, never live it down.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx


	5. Training

"Hey, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"What, Ikkaku?"

"You seem happier these days. What's the what?"

"None of your business. Where's Ayasegawa? I need his report."

"He's trying out a new hair treatment at the saloon."

"I think you mean salon."

"Whatever, Hitsugaya-taichou."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The dark head and the white head bent over the training schedule. Urahara sat at the apex of the triangle, his fan flapping open-shut-open-shut. Hitsugaya scowled at the repetitive noise, wishing he could just decide on keeping it one way or the other...

"So. What do you think, Yoruichi-san, Hitsugaya-taichou?" 

"It's too intensive, Kisuke," said Yoruichi. She was in human form today. "She needs to go to school. Unlike Ichigo, who's essentially a problem student, Karin is pretty okay in the school department."

Hitsugaya bit his thumb. "Perhaps the time between lessons as well? I mean, if she is as you said, she can turn her natural talents to something damn powerful. And we are running on a tight schedule."

The three peered at the schedule and Urahara began crossing out the morning parts. "Then Hitsugaya-taichou will have to smuggle yourself into her school for morning training and, immediately after school, escort her to Yoruichi-san for further training."

Hitsugaya felt his face pale. "I have to go to her school?"

"You're not expecting us to hop in now, are you? For one thing, the girls are too young for me to be interested in their-"

Yoruichi's punch in his mouth stopped him from continuing the statement. Her large eyes fixed on the small captain. "Hitsugaya-taichou, I think you see the sense in this."

"I do. It's just... well. I guess it's a small price to pay."

Yoruichi smiled. She rolled the schedule up quickly, then stood and stretched. Her sleek form gleamed under the dull fluorescent lights of the dingy room. "I'll get Kisuke to fill in the paperwork tomorrow."

"Yoruichi-san," began Hitsugaya, but was unsure how to continue.

The ex-captain glanced sideways at him. "She will be a shunpo expert, Hitsugaya. Don't forget who I am."

He raised his brows. _The Goddess of Flash._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Everyone, we have a new classmate. Come on in. Don't be shy! Please welcome Hitsugaya Toushiro into the class, everyone!"

"Shut up, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya growled as he smoothed his hair back and fiddled with the collar. "Let's go."

The strawberry blond grinned. "You're so going to become the new schoolyard idol, taichou! Look at you!"

"I'm going there so that Kurosaki Karin gets proper training every day without wasting time."

Disappointed at her taichou's native inability to joke, Matsumoto pouted while he strode out the door.

Then she giggled. Whipping out her credit card, she decided to call on something to help.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya endured the adoring gazes plastered to the back of his neck.

There were sixteen girls in the class. Fifteen were fixed on him. One was stubbornly looking straight ahead, refusing to even make eye contact with the person sitting next to her.

Hitsugaya's boredom expanded. Everything being taught was so _easy_. Where was the challenge of learning something new? 

When the bell rang for recess, Hitsugaya was immediately swarmed by all the girls in class.

"Is this your natural hair color?"

"Where do you stay?"

"Do you like table tennis?"

"What's your favorite food?"

Pushing his way out of the babbling throng – not without a struggle – he looked about for Karin.

"Damn." _Where did she go?_

A slim girl with wavy brown hair skipped up to him. "Who are you looking for, Toushiro-kun?"

"It's Hitsugaya-taich-" he snapped before he realized it was not his subordinates talking. "Call me Hitsugaya. I have to go."

The look of offended pride was lost on the silver-haired captain as he dashed off down the corridor, seeking the neon-bright signature of Karin's reiatsu.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Matsumoto licked the last of the Chunky Monkey off her spoon.

"So, Kon-chan..." she ran the cool metal along the stuffed toy's arm. "You know how to operate a small camera such as this?" she plunged her hand into her bosom and drew out the item and a rapturous sigh from Kon. "And you know what to do with it now right?"

"Yes, goddess!" 

"And maybe, if you do a good job, I might just... have a little reward for you."

Kon swallowed his drool. "Little... reward?"

Matsumoto dug another spoonful out and exhaled with pleasure as she licked it. She leaned towards the modsoul, her breasts threatening to spill out of the purple v-neck tee she wore. "Not _that _little. Start today."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He found who he was looking for, angrily dribbling a soccer ball up and down a field. Briefly he debated calling out to her, but sudden irritation overwhelmed him.

She was headed down the field, her eyes now fixed on the goal.

Wham!

"Done being a kid, Karin?"

"No." She stayed where she was as Hitsugaya walked down the steps to the field. The other boys who were around exchanged confused glances. Any other male outside of her father and brother calling her Karin was pretty much asking for a good beating. Some of them have the nightmares to prove it.

Hitsugaya came up to her. "I'm just reveling in your entire immaturity. You think I wanted to come here? There's something important going on."

"I don't care. How can you just barge into my school, my personal life like this? And frankly, I don't care for a dead boy to be anywhere near me and my sis."

"Your sis?"

"That one over there, gawking like the rest of the boys at us talking so familiarly." Karin folded her arms over her chest. "You met her this morning. In class?"

Hitsugaya spared one uncaring glance. "I'm here so we can train in school during break and then, after school, I'll send you to Yoruichi-san for specialized training."

"You couldn't have told me before... before appearing this morning?"

"We made the plans last night. While you were resting at home." 

"Like I care. I'm just in to get over the whole nausea and helplessness. It's done. I'm good."

He stepped closer and, when she stepped back, he grabbed her by the arm. "This isn't about you, Karin. We need every soldier we can get. And then some. You think I'm investing all this time and effort in you because I _like _you? There is a war coming."

"What war? What are you talking about?" Karin stopped struggling.

"A war that involves every soul in this town and perhaps the rest of the world. You are a potential asset. If you want to jeopardize people's lives because you're too damn young and immature, fine. Disappear after school and let me go off alone."

He let go of her arm and prowled off, ignoring the twittering and subdued chatter of his classmates, and ignoring especially the intensely conflicted gaze of one Kurosaki Karin.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Finally the last bell rang. Hitsugaya grabbed his bag and left the classroom, leaving a wake of muttered comments from his classmates.

His little confrontation with Karin had spread like wildfire and he was irritated with himself. It wasn't as if he wanted the attention: god knows, his hair color was already garnering too much from students and teachers alike.

But he had to make her understand the stakes.

Steeling himself for disappointment, Hitsugaya stood at the school gate to wait.

"Hitsugaya-san."

That was not Karin's voice. The white-haired captain half-turned and saw Karin's sister, stern-faced and very serious. He raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want with Karin, Hitsugaya-san?"

"...is she sending you to tell me that she's backing out?"

"No."

"Then why are you talking to me?"

"I don't like to see people threatening my sister." The girl stepped closer. "So never, ever grab her by the arm again, okay?"

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. For a petite human girl she was quite brave, standing up to a guy like that for her stronger and more aggressive sister. He shrugged acquiescence.

"Hey, Yuzu." Karin stepped out of school, her cap again perched on her head. She saw her talking to Hitsugaya and – was it his imagination? - there was a flicker of a strange expression across the large, liquid eyes. "Hitsugaya."

"Let's go." The captain didn't want to waste time on pleasantries. "We need to get there asap."

"Where are you going, Karin-chan?"

"Not to worry, Yuzu. Tell dad I'll be home late. Keep some dinner for me."

"Karin-chan!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You sure you don't want to explain to your sister?" Hitsugaya asked as they made their way to the Urahara General Store.

"Nah." Karin brushed the notion off. "I don't want to lie to her, but the truth is kinda way out there, y'know?"

Yoruichi was already in the basement, waiting for them. Hitsugaya made the introductions, and watched Karin try to figure out why the woman felt so familiar.

"Have you explained the reason why we're training her up?" Yoruichi's question cut into his musings. 

Hitsugaya cocked his head. "Partly. But I'd like to know what specialized training she's going to receive."

"Karin," said Yoruichi, her canted eyes now pinning the girl. "You know you're now a shinigami, right?"

"Yeah."

"As a shinigami most of us tend to be better at a certain area of combat. Zanjutsu, kido, hakuda and hohou – these are the four main specialities. Hitsugaya-taichou here has talent mainly in swordsmanship, zanjutsu. For myself, I'm an expert in hakuda and hohou."

Karin listened, her hands stuffed in her pockets.

"You are one of the few natural adepts at hohou, Karin." Yoruichi grinned. "Which means that, for the next few weeks, Hitsugaya-taichou will focus on teaching you basic zanjutsu, and I will further develop your naturally incredible speed. Questions?"

"Yeah. How much time?"

"A few hours a day." Hitsugaya noted the flare in Karin's eyes, but chose to ignore it for now. "You'll not have free time for a while."

She chewed on her upper lip thoughtfully. "You said you'll train me in school as well."

"Yes, I did. My plan is to have us train in shinigami form while replacement souls stay in class. Unlike your delinquent of a brother, you can't afford to cut school."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kon clambered back to the meeting place, waving the miniature camera. "I got it! I got it!"

"What do you have?" Matsumoto all but snatched the camera from him and plugged it into a laptop she had 'persuaded' a neighbor to lend. "That's... that's him arguing with her."

"Well, the whole class was talking about it after recess," Kon said, his beady eyes fixed on the ample bosom. "About my reward..."

"Until you give me something more juicy to gossip about it's not gonna happen." She tossed the hapless stuffed toy out of the way and went to return the laptop.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You have to call out the full name of your sword," chided Hitsugaya. He sheathed his sword and folded his arms. "Can we please focus?"

"I am focusing," protested Karin. Sweat poured off her brow. "We've been doing this for hours."

"I wouldn't call gawking at Abarai and Sado's battle 'focusing'. And you can't seem to maintain a hold on your sword's attack."

"But they're really-"

"Nothing related to your training. Now, call out the first command for your zanpakuto."

Karin exhaled and said, "_Gekido, Yuutsubame_."

A short rush of water emerged but quickly disappeared. Karin looked at the damp patch before her and huffed out a disappointed sigh.

"Your attacks are too tame, and there is no direction of attack." Hitsugaya tapped her sword. "Look at it now, Karin. Tell me what is different."

"It's... Well, it has two blue tassels wound about my right wrist. And the sword seems a little longer."

"Any idea why?"

Karin's eyes darted left and right. "Am I supposed to know?"

"It is your zanpakuto. You tell me." Hitsugaya folded his arms again.

Karin stuck her sword into the ground. "How am I supposed to do that? I know next to nothing about zanpakuto."

"Then ask."

For a moment Karin was a little lost. Then she raised her eyebrows and pointed to the shirasaya before her feet. "You mean... ask him?"

Hitsugaya nodded. Karin closed her eyes and concentrated.

_Oi. Fishface._

_Call me that again and I'll ignore you forever._

_Fine. Can I call you Yuu?_

_That's much better. What do you want?_

_How do I, y'know, strengthen the power of the attack? What I have now is a joke._

_You have to know what you're attacking. I'm not gonna waste my energy attacking a pile of air molecules, girlie._

_It's Karin to you, fish- I mean, Yuu._

_Whatever._

_Also, what's with the tassels?_

_D'ya know the weakness of the shirasaya blade?_

_No guard? Smooth handle?_

_Uh-huh. No grip, in fact. Also, the tassels are to anchor me in your source of power._

_Getting to be Yoda-ish, Yuu. Spill already._

_Remember when you first became shinigami? Why did you think you were supposed to be one?_

_Something about helping my brother?_

_No, dumbass. The _real _reason._

_...It's in my blood._

Karin's eyes opened. Hitsugaya was inwardly pleased to see a sparkle of understanding in the black depths. He said, "So?"

"I get it now. I think you better brace yourself." She held her zanpakuto loosely by her side, then crouched into a combat stance. "_Gekido, Yuutsubame._"

Hitsugaya froze the huge wall of water rushing at him in a blink, Hourinamaru delighting in the exercise. "Good! Now to Yoruichi-san."

"I don't get a break?"

"You rest when you die, Karin." Hitsugaya tossed the girl a towel. "Tomorrow we'll start basic sword drill."

Karin flopped to the ground and groaned aloud, "This is worse than soccer boot camp."

"Of course it is," Hitsugaya said under his breath as he walked away. "It's about life and death now."


	6. Fireworks

They settled into a routine by the third day.

Morning, they sat in class. Recess, they each pop Soul Candy and then, in shinigami form, go to the school field for basic sword drill. Then, just before school ends, they return to their bodies, and go to Urahara's basement where Karin was trained specially in shunpo.

But the problem that was brewing was not anything about the training. In fact, Karin was becoming very adept at both zanjutsu and shunpo; she could actually keep up with Hitsugaya on the latter and was earning props from Urahara for the former.

She was getting better at being a shinigami, but her mood was increasingly fouler as the days passed. And everyone in Urahara's General Store noticed that her bad mood coincided with the times Hitsugaya talked to her, trained with her, or clashed blades with her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The tension was thick enough to smother by the second week.

"You're slipping again," Yoruichi corrected Karin's reiatsu flow. "Visualize the target destination first, then direct your strength to your muscles, not your feet. Your feet just has to get there."

"I know, I know."

Yoruichi ruffled her hair affectionately. "Okay. Let's do this again. See Jinta scowling there, not sweeping the floor like he was supposed to upstairs? Get to him and tell him off for me."

Karin grinned crookedly. "Can I whack him?

"Sure. Make him remember his duties."

"Hey." Someone called out from behind the two. Yoruichi winced at the incredibly bad timing.

Karin stiffened. "Hitsugaya."

Then she flash-stepped to Jinta and punched the poor boy off his feet. "Do your work, slacker!"

"Shut up, bi-atch." The spiky-haired kid groused and hopped back up the ladder.

Yoruichi slapped a hand across Hitsugaya's chest. "I wouldn't go near her these days if I'm a white-haired captain."

"What?" Hitsugaya was genuinely confused. "Why?"

"She's upset at you about something. I dunno what, so don't ask me. Anything happen at school, maybe?"

"Other than the first day when I sort-of threatened her?" He racked his memory. "Nothing. Even the replacement souls say nothing untoward happened."

"Maybe you'll need to find out from the horse's mouth when she's less explode-y and more simmer-y." Yoruichi gave a sideways glance. "But I'm hoping she'll keep that rage. She's a better fighter when she has it."

Hitsugaya twisted a scowl. "So you want me to talk to her or not?"

"What I'm saying is that it's up to you."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"What is your deal, girl?" Jinta grumbled when Karin joined him and Ururu on the little back porch. "You're boiling with anger."

"It's not anger."

Ururu munched contentedly on her chocolate bar. "But you are a lot less happy, Karin-san."

"I've been better, I know that," said Karin as she bit off her liquorice. "But if you're trying to find out why, I sure as heck can't help you. I don't know why I'm-"

"Little Miss Grumpy?"

All three looked up to see Matsumoto looking down at them. "Karin? I'm 'volunteered' to escort you home today."

"I don't need an escort."

"I know you don't, but try explaining that to my captain."

Karin grabbed her bag. "How about – not. Let's go."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They walked for almost five minutes in blessed silence before Matsumoto had to probe.

"So what is bothering you, Karin? Family, school, friends, romance?"

"Nothing. None of it."

Matsumoto clasped her hands behind her back. "Listen, Karin. I've had a lot of experience dealing with teenage snits. You're not even _close _to what Hitsugaya-taichou can call up at a moment's notice. So spill."

"There's nothing to spill." Karin stomped on a few steps ahead.

Matsumoto kept up with her, but didn't say a word.

"There's nothing, okay?"

More silence.

"Fine. Everything."

"Well then," said Matsumoto brightly, "that narrows it down some, doesn't it?"

They were close to the clinic now. Karin whirled around. "You know what? I'm not gonna talk to you. About anything. What goes on in my life, my head, nothing. It's not enough you guys mess up Ichi-nii's life, now you gotta get to mine?"

"You're talking plenty now, Karin."

"I-" Karin cut herself off. "It's nearing dinner. I gotta get back."

Before she could give the luscious lieutenant the brush-off, her father dashed out of the house. "KARIN-CHAN!"

The heel of Karin's hand stopped her father in his exuberant hug. He yowled in pain.

"Dad, I'm tired and hungry. So skip the theatrics this time, k?" She swung her bag over her other shoulder and entered the house.

Matsumoto drew an imaginary line with her left foot, all the while smiling. "She is just like Ichigo, isn't she?"

"With suitably individualized traits, of course." Isshin grinned at his ex-lieutenant. "You dropping by for lunch or coffee sometime soon?"

"Oh, like I can get away from the prying eyes of... well. I could. No one's prying on me these days, more's the pity."

"The men, they don't got eyes," teased Isshin. He stuffed his hands into the pocket. "How is she doing?"

"Pretty impressive. Her zanpakuto's water-based. I'd say that, as time goes by and she finds more forms of attack, she'll be a formidable foe."

"I wish sometimes... I don't know. I feel the complete heel, not being in on their education."

Matsumoto flashed a wry grin. "You can't be everywhere for them, Kurosaki-taichou."

"I haven't been a captain for a long time, Ran." Isshin ran his hands through his short hair. "Don't think I can ever be again."

"I'm certain your reiatsu will return in time for the big finish, sir."

"You were never this polite when you were my lieutenant. Who's the big guy that changed ya?"

Matsumoto chuckled. "Little guy, actually. Cutest little thing to walk the hallowed grounds of Seireitei, and he's all broody and glowery because of that."

"Yeah. Good looks and capability bring on the downers. I could relate."

"You could not!"

"I so can!" Isshin stopped their bantering with a roll of his eyes. "Feels like yesterday, doesn't it?"

"Gods, I've missed you." Matsumoto brushed the tip of her nose with her hand, masking her chuckle.

Isshin turned to go back to his house to join his family. Then he halted at the entrance and half-turned. "Is your new captain a white-haired kid, about Karin's height?"

"Yeah," confirmed Matsumoto. Then she did a double-take. "You know him?"

"I've seen him. He doesn't know though."

"About you, us or her?"

Isshin considered. "Pretty much all."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ichigo's return made for some fireworks.

"It's only for a week, and you're already living in my room?"

"Well, if you're gonna be absent, I don't see why we have to play squatter settlement next door, brother dearest!" Karin yelled back.

Rukia tried to unruffle feathers. "Ichigo, I'm sure Karin can sleep in the girls' room for tonight, or for however long you plan to stay this time."

"And then after that she's gonna move back in my room? I don't think so!"

"Hello? Standing right here!" Karin waved a hand before he big brother's eyes. "You don't use it much these days anyway! And unless you intend to stay for good I'm moving in!"

Ichigo's face reddened. "I've been away for a week and you turn into a smart mouth? Is that it? No one around to teach you manners?"

"It hasn't been only a week, Ichigo, you've been absent for most of the time since the beginning of this year. Of all the people in this house you have the least right to be blaming anyone for thinking you're not coming back-"

Karin's tirade was stopped by a slap. She held her cheek, turning sudden red-rimmed eyes on her father. 

Isshin's jaw was set. "I never said he wasn't coming back, Karin. I said you could use his room for now, since he was out."

"Dad, you didn't have to-" Ichigo moved toward his sister, but his way was blocked by his father's larger build.

Isshin was now grabbing his son by the collar. "I just slapped my daughter because my son doesn't know how to come home without first informing me. Don't ever, ever make me do it again, Ichigo." He shook off the orange-haired teen. "Where the hell have you- Rukia. Take Yuzu up to your room, please."

"Sure, sir."

"Daddy." Yuzu's pleading voice was muted by Rukia's gentle shake. The two girls headed upstairs, and Rukia's eyes fell on Ichigo's defiant but confused ones. 

When Yuzu and Rukia were out of sight and probably out of hearing range, Isshin scrubbed his face with his hands.

"I've only laid hands on my girls twice before today, and that was the traditional spanking at their births. Today is the third time, and I will never do it again." Isshin's stern gaze fell on his son. "I will cut my hands off before the fourth time occurs. But right now, I want to know where you have been, and why you didn't leave word, and why on earth were you fighting with your sister over a room you don't use."

"I was – I have been... Dad, it's hard to explain."

"Try." Karin stepped up now, her hand still covering the sore cheek. "I'd really love to hear from you."

Isshin placed a hand on her shoulder. "Karin's right."

"I know I haven't been in contact, dad, but I've been with... friends. We're preparing for a... for something."

"Too vague."

"Well I have to _be _vague, Dad, so deal with it!"

"Well deal with this!" Karin's outburst startled both males. "Deal with the fact that we're all worried sick. Deal with the fact that your school has been calling us to check that you're alright and not, I dunno, lying dead in a ditch somewhere. Deal with the fact that Yuzu has been weeping to sleep every damn night 'cause she's so worried she can't sleep. Deal with the fact that Rukia searches every afternoon and evening. Deal with the fact that your friends are all doing what you're doing, just so they can help you-"

"I didn't ask them to!"

"You don't ask but they still stand by you! What did you think, you can go gallivanting and they'd be the ones minding the store?"

"All right, both of you, that's enough! That is quite enough." Isshin stepped between his two quarreling progeny. He took a deep breath and said, "Karin, I know you've been worried. Right now, I'd like you to go upstairs and rest. Tomorrow's still a school day."

"And which room am I sleeping in?"

Isshin licked his lips wearily. At times like non-smoking was a chore. "Just... your own bed, tonight."

Karin threw one final scowl at her brother before running up the stairs. Isshin rubbed his temples and sighed. "I hate puberty."

"You're already past puberty, dad."

"I meant you. And her. And Yuzu." He ruffled his son's hair. "If you're involved in something big, nasty and illegal, I want you out."

Ichigo chewed the inside of his cheek. "Just big and nasty."

"Then be careful. If she's that upset with you being AWOL for a week, tell me what would probably happen if you die."

"She'd turn into some kind of death goddess and kick my ass?"

"Got it in one." Isshin swiped Ichigo's head one more time. "Go to bed, son."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Matsumoto and Yumichika flipped through the photos Kon took.

"These are too tame, Ran-chan. Anything better?" Yumichika packed them neatly and sealed them into a manila envelope.

Matsumoto rolled off her elbows onto her shoulders. "He's been perfectly proper, Yumi. And yet I know there's a big, explosive payout in this situation somewhere."

"You think we should speed things along?" the pretty fifth seat wondered aloud. "Put them on a date, or something?"

Ikkaku strolled in and flopped in the space beside Yumichika. Draping his muscled arm over the smaller man, Ikkaku said, "Why are you two doing this? Shouldn't we be focused on something else?"

Matsumoto sat up. "Honeys, after the ass-whupping we took the last time we faced off against Arrancar he's been demoralized. So have we all, for that matter. If finding and grooming a brand-new shiny Kurosaki into a kick-ass shinigami makes my captain a happier guy, I'm all for taking down some proof."

"Apart from all the 'ass' metaphors," Yumichika slapped Ikkaku's hand away from said area, "I think it's good to have Hitsugaya realize he's human. Figuratively speaking. He's so wrapped up in being a captain I think he's forgetting about his feelings."

Ikkaku smirked. "And you two wanted something scandalous to gossip about."

Matsumoto and Yumichika exchanged looks.

"Well, yeah." "That too."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya lay on his back, watching the stars overhead.

Not that he could actually _see _stars; the light of the town made it pretty impossible to see anything.

But he could see the stars of his memory.

_'So, Shiro-chan, do you regret coming to the academy?' Hinamori asked._

_Hitsugaya grunted. 'It's not too bad. Least I got my own bed now that I ain't got to share with no one.'_

_'You say that now, but eventually...' giggled the girl, sounding distinctly different from the one who left the compound a year ago. Hitsugaya scowled._

_'You're different from before,' he groused. 'The Momo I know would never make salty jokes.'_

_'Mix around with Abarai-kun and Kira-kun, eventually you pick up some of the lingo.'_

_'Then I'm findin' some real good lingoists to hang out with.'_

_Hinamori poked him in the ribs. 'So now we ain't good enough?'_

_Hitsugaya placed both arms behind his head. 'I call 'em like I see 'em, Momo.'_

He sniffed the night wind. There was a scent, elusive yet familiar.

"Taichou, it's a school night. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Matsumoto," he silenced her with an impatient gesture. "What's that smell?"

"Possibly Orihime's cooking."

"No, not the squid ink pot roast in a pastry dish. The other smell."

Matsumoto sniffed experimentally. "I don't smell anything, taichou."

Hitsugaya concentrated his senses. "It's reiatsu."

"I don't recognize anyone with that particular reiatsu signature. Or anything."

"It's strangely familiar." He pulled out of his gigai. "Take care of that now."

Matsumoto carried the small body in her arms, willing him to be careful as the snowy-haired captain soared through the city.


	7. User Unfriendly

Hitsugaya was unprepared to see what he saw at the river.

"Kurosaki? Is that you?"

The feral mask turned his way before shattering into nothing. The orange-haired teen acknowledged the captain's presence and sheathing his bankai. "Toushiro. Hey."

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou to you, punk. What have you been doing? Everyone's been looking for you."

The kid waved him off. "Look, I just got a huge dose of blame and guilt back home, I don't need this from you either. Especially since you look more like Karin's age than my dad, I'm startin' to feel like all my siblings are attacking me."

"Karin?" Hitsugaya was instantly on alert.

"Oh, she's my younger sister. Pain in the neck. You guys haven't met her yet, except for Rukia."

Ichigo's blessed stupidity overlooked the small sigh of relief that escaped from Hitsugaya. Then the captain turned to more pressing issues. "Kurosaki, what the hell was that just now?"

Ichigo looked extremely uncomfortable. He squared his shoulders, as if prepping himself to take a scolding, then he flopped to the ground. "I've been in training for this."

"For the mask?" Hitsugaya furrowed his brows. "You... were in this form for a while in Soul Society, am I right?"

"Yeah. When I was fighting Byakuya."

_No wonder it felt familiar. I had sensed it before._

"Toushiro," Ichigo began, rubbing his face with his hands. "I'm... I think I may be dangerous."

For a moment he looked not like the cocksure, arrogant ryoka who invaded and took on Soul Society for one Kuchiki Rukia's life, but a lost, uncertain teenager. Hitsugaya softened and didn't bother to correct him. 

"How so, kid?"

"Don't call me kid when you're shorter than me, Toushiro."

Hitsugaya folded his arms and the ambient temperature dropped a few significant degrees. Ichigo raised both hands in surrender.

"I have had this problem since I mastered bankai."

"What problem?" Hitsugaya sat down, his legs crossed.

The teen turned amber eyes on Hitsugaya. "Have you ever heard of inner hollows?"

"... no."

"Well, I have one. And he's intent on taking over this body," Ichigo said, eyes now focused on the far bank. "and for a period of time he was winning."

"That was why you got your ass thoroughly kicked by the first two arrancar you met?"

"Yeah."

It was odd, the two of them in a conversation about Ichigo's personal struggle. But who better that Hitsugaya, when the captain thought about it? He wouldn't overreact, like Abarai or Rukia. He wouldn't jump at the chance to fight hollow Ichigo, like Madarame or Ayasegawa. And he certainly wouldn't gossip about it like his lieutenant Matsumoto.

"You say you've been in training. To eradicate the inner hollow?"

Ichigo's answer turned Hitsugaya cold. "No. I'm learning how to tap on its powers."

The young captain's hands gripped his knees. He had to make sure of the facts. "And who are you training with, Kurosaki?"

"You ever heard of the vizards?"

_Whoomp._

Ichigo was stunned that a body so slight could hold a force so strong. Hitsugaya's hand was on his throat, pinning him to the ground. He hissed, "You are taking lessons from vizards? You are learning how to _be _a vizard?"

Using both hands to shove Hitsugaya off, Ichigo scrambled to his feet. "Yeah. What's the big deal?"

"They are abomination!" Hitsugaya's tone held a note of furious urgency. "They are fugitives, they are those who should not exist in the first place! I can't believe..." He chewed on his bottom lip, shaking his head slowly. "Kurosaki, how could you be so spectacularly foolish?"

"Foolish? My inner hollow was about to conquer me and kill everyone I hold dear. I had to do something-"

"-but to be like the vizard means you deliberately call on powers that are not meant for shinigami. It's like the arrancar, Kurosaki. If you think about it, why are there so few vizards out there if it's only a matter of strength?"

Ichigo stood still, not comprehending.

Hitsugaya reined in his impatience. "There are less than ten vizards on record. The first appeared almost two thousand years ago. Guess what he did."

"I'm not in the mood for guessing games."

"Slaughtered nearly half of Soul Society in the space of one hour. The hollow form went berserk and no one in Seireitei could stop it. And I mean no one: practically a quarter of Gotei Thirteen's captains were butchered. The shinigami, hearing the deaths he caused as the hollow, escaped in the chaotic aftermath. He never came back. He didn't dare."

"We did a lot of damage too, Toushiro, when we were trying to save Rukia."

"You don't understand, Kurosaki. They are abominations. They have lost all capacity to draw the line between good and evil the instant they chose to use hollow powers."

"They're not like that," protested the orange-haired teen. "I know them."

"How well do you know them, Kurosaki?" Hitsugaya studied Ichigo for a long beat. "I sure hope they're not like the legends. One of the standing orders any captain must uphold is that when he or she encounters a vizard, the captain must kill the vizard or die trying."

The human shinigami was silent and thoughtful. Then he looked at the captain. "I'm still gonna continue, you know that."

As Hitsugaya made to leave he paused. "Kurosaki, for your sake, I hope you don't let the others find out. And I certainly will try to keep this from the Soutaichou."

"Why? I'm an abomination, if what you say is true. Let him know and-"

"Kill you?" Hitsugaya's voice was very condescending as he cut the human off. "What did you think put the scars across his scalp? All over his torso? Mosquitoes? Two thousand years, Kurosaki, and the scars haven't faded. You're supposed to be smart. Think how he feels about vizards."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin turned and tossed in her bed.

She couldn't sleep. Knowing that her brother was safe made her glad, and knowing that he hadn't considered his family while out on his little jaunts made her mad as hell.

_Was it because of the war? But if I can make it home everyday after training why can't he?_

She faced the ceiling again, observing the bars of light and shadow across the smooth surface. Then, finally giving up, she got up to go to the kitchen for a drink, carefully navigating the crowded room.

_Wait. Where's Rukia?_

Karin tiptoed downstairs, but stopped abruptly. She could hear raised voices and was surprised no one else in the family was awakened by the noise. But when she saw that both of them were in shinigami form she understood.

"... I'm telling you, you should have informed me at the very least!"

"I decided at the last minute and I know you'll just try to dissuade me, okay? I don't need you to babysit me Rukia, Renji will be upset if you do-"

"-don't bring him into this!"

"Fine, don't bring yourself into my life either!"

"Bit too late for that, Ichigo. You don't even care now, do you?"

"Care about what?"

"All of us! In fact, your sister-"

"- is right here," Karin intercepted hurriedly. Was Rukia in the know? Karin looked at both her brother and at Rukia, then figured the girl knew. She was also shinigami, and therefore reporting to Hitsugaya. "You two are very noisy."

"Oh. I forgot." Ichigo looked away. Karin took the chance to shake her head at the other brunette, but Rukia was not entirely convinced. Karin's eyes flared.

"Of course you forgot that I could see and hear spirits. Like you forgot we existed and cared about you. It's okay. I'm quite used to it by now." Being deliberately callous was riling Ichigo up, and perversely Karin was glad about it. She took a long pull of milk before heading back upstairs. "Rukia, let's go. Ichigo would want to go to his wonderful room which is now all his own."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Hitsugaya turned up at the Kurosaki's residence the next morning, the first person who noticed him was Isshin.

"Hi. The clinic isn't open yet, though. You want to come back later?"

"I'm not here for the doctor," Hitsugaya said. "I came to pick Karin up. I mean-" he tried to amend his phrasing "-I'm here to walk Karin to school."

"Karin, huh." Isshin's eyes narrowed, then a mischievous glint emerged from the dark depths. "Have you had breakfast?"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. "Uh, no. Sir."

"Oh, forget the sir. Just call me Uncle Kurosaki. Come on in."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yuzu was curled in bed, her face pale. Karin dashed downstairs for her father, then skidded to a halt when she saw their early morning guest. Then she blushed when she realized she had on her yummy sushi pajamas again.

"What's wrong, Karin?"

She jerked back to the issue at hand. "Daddy, Yuzu's sick. She's all feverish."

"Oh?" Isshin ran up to the second level bedroom. Karin debated for a second if she should stay and interrogate Hitsugaya on his reason for the visit, but pajama embarrassment plus familial concern made her run upstairs.

_Hitsugaya's here. Why is he here?_

Ichigo emerged from his bedroom, no doubt roused by the noise. "What's wrong, Karin?"

"Yuzu's sick."

Isshin handed Karin her change of clothes. "Karin-chan, get dressed then get our guest some breakfast. And for yourself too. I'll write a note for your teacher in a second." He turned to see his son. "And you get into your uniform to attend class!"

"Yeah, whatever, dad." Ichigo tossed his father a wave before heading back into his room. As long as he was present for the exams he should be fine, academically. There were other things to be concerned about.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

She was tugging a comb through her hair when she came down the stairs. Hitsugaya was still standing in the doorway, completely bemused.

Karin wondered if she should yell, then decided against it. "C'mon in, I'll fix breakfast. Grab a seat."

"Thanks, but I'm not that hungr-"

"Toushiro?" Ichigo paused on the second last step into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Karin winked at Hitsugaya, who nodded back. _Ichigo is still in the dark._

Her older brother scowled. "Yeah." He plunked himself opposite the captain, blocking his view of the oddly domesticated Karin. Ichigo whispered, "Something going on?"

"Not really," Hitsugaya mouthed.

Karin emerged with Poptarts and glasses of milk. "Sorry, but I'm really not a good cook. Be satisfied I actually managed to toast them without burning down the house."

Hitsugaya gingerly picked one up. "I read about toaster fires somewhere."

"Caused by Poptarts and cheap toasters." Karin grinned at the captain, causing him to drop the pastry. "Dave Barry's great science discovery."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he scanned the two of them. Karin had plopped herself next to Hitsugaya and was now showing him how to eat it without getting scalded.

"How come you two know each other?"

"He's my classmate," chirped Karin. Hitsugaya was trying to maneuver the breakfast treat properly to answer. "I asked him to come by this morning."

"You did?" Ichigo asked the question before Hitsugaya could. "Why?"

"Well, I was hoping to ask him something while we were walking to school... be more private, y'know."

Ichigo's scowl grew more fearsome. Before he could say a word, Isshin bounded down the stairs. "Hey kiddos! Ooh, Poptarts. Karin, introduce your boyfriend to us, why doncha?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" "I'm not her boyfriend."

Passing Karin an envelope, Isshin's grin grew at the chorus of denial. "Ah. Young love."

Karin rolled her eyes. "He's not, okay? Hitsugaya Toushiro, class mate. Boy, obviously. Friend, yes. Not boyfriend whatsoever. But he's quite cool."

"I'd say downright cold," muttered Ichigo under his breath. He was ignored.

"So what are your interests, Hitsugaya-kun?" Isshin asked.

Hitsugaya shrugged. "Nothing in particular."

"Oh, but he's brilliant, daddy," Karin suddenly gushed. "You should've seen him at baseball the day before. Stole second base, then went for third. If not for the bell he'd have gotten to home. Yuzu and I were cheering madly for him, but too bad, time was up."

Ichigo choked on his milk. "He's already navigating the bases?" Again he was roundly ignored.

"And in math? Hitsugaya has the knack of calculating angles and trajectory. In fact, he's the one tutoring me. I still don't get it, but he's teaching me very patiently."

"Anyone has to be patient when they teach you, Karin-chan," teased Isshin, ruffling his second-born's hair.

"Quit it, dad, Hitsugaya's gonna think we're all nuts."

Hitsugaya swallowed his mouthful. "No I don't."

Ichigo tried not to gag on the beaming smile Karin gave the captain. No one paid him any attention. Hitsugaya was, by now, bright pink and trying gallantly not to smile.

"Last week, we got to talking about molecules in liquids and solids? Hitsugaya understood the whole chapter after one lesson, and he was asked to teach the rest of us the differences between the molecular structures of ice and water."

Isshin nodded. "Quite an accomplishment. Miss Seto is very particular about her advanced science lessons."

"No challenge there," muttered Ichigo again.

Karin finally deigned to 'notice' him. "You're still here? I thought you'd be gone by now."

"Wait a darned sec-"

"Bye daddy, we've gotta go. I'll be out late with Hitsugaya today. Again." 

The hapless captain was dragged up by his hand and yanked out of the kitchen. Hitsugaya managed to thank Isshin before he was pulled out of sight by Karin.

Isshin was smiling wistfully at the two empty plates sitting side-by-side. "Ah, young love. I miss those days."

"I can't believe you, dad. You're happy that Karin's all... weird?"

Amused, Isshin looked at his son. "Just because you are a social maladjust who hasn't found a girlfriend, doesn't mean you have to be jealous that Karin is testing the waters. Don't worry, son, your dad still loves you. Even if you turn out to be all alone and unwanted or, y'know, gay."

"Ugh. Stop the mushy. And I'm not socially maladjusted. Nor am I gay." Ichigo cleared up the table. "I'm gonna warn him off her."

Isshin paused in the middle of unrolling this week's memorial poster. "You think she'll let you?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They were almost at the school gate when Hitsugaya pulled Karin back.

"Just so you know," he said quietly, "I don't appreciate being used."

Karin looked at her feet for a beat before facing him squarely. "Just so you know," she said equally softly, "I don't care."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kon pulled himself out of Karin's backpack the moment he saw the coast was clear. Then he listened to the voice recorder again, pleased with his results.

Then he snapped pictures of Karin's open notebook.

The chatter and clatter signaled to Kon the end of recess and the return of Karin's class. By now only Karin and Hitsugaya's replacement souls would be back; the two were in sword drill practice.

"... so he was like, Tina, wil y-y-y-you b-b-b-b-b-b-be my, um, my, um..., and I was going, are you gonna complete that sentence sometime soon? I have to go home. And he turned beet red and ran off." Kon recognized the voice. It belonged to a pretty student who just transferred from the UK, Tina something. She had shiny brown hair that fell in waves to just past her shoulders, and for some reason was unusually popular among the girls. 

Kon also knew Tina was a prime bitch-in-training. He might be a modsoul, but he knew bitches-to-be when he saw them.

The only two girls who didn't talk to her were Yuzu and Karin; the latter because she hardly hung out with the girls anyway, and the former because she was being worried about Karin.

Tina was holding court again. "Like I'd ever go out with that scrawny, bespectacled nerd anyway. I was trying not to signal the fashion police when he turned up in that bow tie thing, y'know? Like, get a GQ clue."

The rest of the girls tittered among themselves. They weren't as worldly as Tina, but somehow they desperately wanted to be in on the in clique, and they were doing extra homework to match up to Tina.

"So, Tina," asked one of the hangers-on. "Who do you want to go to the Harvest Festival dance with then?"

"Hitsugaya Toushiro."

They exchanged glances. The gigai of Toushiro and Karin were already at their desks, waiting for class to start, but the teacher had yet to arrive. Tina bent forward and said, "He will agree to be my date before the end of today."

She leaned back again, supremely confident. But one of the bolder or, in Kon's view, the dumber girls spoke up. "Tina, Hitsugaya has been hanging out with Karin since the first day he arrived here. I don't think-"

"Hello, little brain?" Tina cut in, annoyed. "Look at Karin. Bored, lifeless hair, half-asleep eyes, tanned skin that is probably dryer than a desert, kicks a ball around every other day. Then look at me. Wavy, shiny tresses, already developing body, smooth, white skin. Tell me who Hitsugaya will pick to go harvesting with."

Kon narrowed his eyes. He didn't like the captain any more than he liked Ichigo, but at least Hitsugaya had never treated Kon like a dishrag or some sidekick. And Hitsugaya was the busty goddess Matsumoto Rangiku's captain, and said goddess wanted to see Karin and Hitsugaya end up together.

Kon needed a plan.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Atchoo!" Hitsugaya rocked back on his heels with the abrupt exhalation.

Karin pulled her sword back at the last second while Hitsugaya shook the sneeze off. "You alright?"

"Yes, I am. Continue. Remember: thrust, parry, upstroke, stab."


	8. Just Say No

Kon tried to think.

When was Tina going to make her move?

"I'm not built for this," he groused inwardly. "Why can't my missions involve sexy, bikini babes and a good cuddle in heavenly valleys of softness? Why am I stuck in this stupid, preteen mess?"

Then he saw it: Tina was scribbling on a pink, flowered notepad. She winked at the girl next to her, then pointed at Hitsugaya who was taking down notes.

_Must be a note to the captain._

As Tina folded the note in half Kon shuffled forward, trying desperately not to be noticed. So far so good: Kon could feel everything slowing down to the breath between seconds.

Tina reached down, ostensibly to pick something up, but was preparing to hand the folded up note to the girl in front. Her eyes never left the history teacher. 

Kon jumped, banking on the rows of bags to hide his presence. His mouth was open and, in a split second moment of genius, bit the note out of Tina's hand. 

Tina, thinking that the note had been taken, smiled confidently and sat up straighter in her chair. Perhaps only Karin's artificial soul could hear the choking and gagging sound, because she leaned way out of her chair to see Kon trying to swallow a pink, perfumed note.

"Miss Yamashita," the girl called out. "Someone's stuffed toy is over there, and it's choking."

Kon dashed out the door before the formidable Miss Yamashita could look over. "Karin, there's nothing there. Please focus on your work."

"But I saw-"

"No, Karin. Pay attention."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kon finally swallowed the paper lump. He shuffled along the wall of the corridor, outside the classroom.

Thankfully Tina sat near the back door, and he could see what she was doing without having to get into the room. She was waiting for Hitsugaya's reaction.

Five minutes ticked by, and then the girl realized her note was not being passed on. She wrinkled her brows.

_That's right, girlie, the note is gone._

Tina wasn't put off quite that easily. She hissed to the student in front of her, and Kon could hear the message.

Time to play Chinese Whispers.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The lion plushie with a pink, flowered note sitting in his tummy shimmied along the floor, playing dead every time he felt someone looking at him, but made good progress nonetheless. Thankfully the teacher had very sharp ears; most of the students dared not say anything until they were scribbling exercises in their notebooks.

Kon caught up with the message.

A boy leaned over and hissed, "Tina asks Hitsugaya to meet up after school at the bookshop."

The girl either didn't catch the full message or wanted to double check, but the boy had already returned to his work. So Kon whispered, in as close to the boy's tone as possible, "Tina wants Hitsugaya to beat up a chabana at the cook's hop."

"What?" the girl was understandably confused, but knowing Tina's strict clique rules, passed the message on. Only this time Kon was there as well, in a falsetto.

"Tina wants it to eat up a chawanmushi at the cook's shop"

And Kon again.

"Tina asks it to get a toga at the new shop."

And Kon again.

"Tina asks if she should beef up and try a sock hop."

"Any more talking, class, and detention for all," Miss Yamashita was irate by now. The dates she had written were not being copied down by her class. How were they supposed to pass exams that way?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Tina fumed. Her message was not being passed to Hitsugaya. Well, she would try the written word one more time.

Kon was pressed to the walls, behind the last row of desks. From his vantage point he could vaguely see Tina scribbling another love note.

_Damn. I wasn't hoping for a fiber-rich lunch._

If he ran the kids would notice the soft toy moving. He had already risked much in the message-garbling trick just five minutes earlier. If it wasn't because people know stuffed toys didn't talk, he would have been mounted as a rarity for gawkers and tourists.

If he let things happen, then Hitsugaya would be trapped in a date with Tina, and Kon wouldn't get his lovely goddess of bosoms to reward him. The modsoul risked a peep at the teacher, droning about Japanese history.

"... one of the main developments of the Edo era was..."

Kon skittered out of the class again, and hastily cast his eyes about for the one thing he needed to distract everyone.

_There!_

"Why can't I have Ichigo's body when I really need it?" He looked up the wall, aware that he had perhaps a minute to get to his target. "Alright, Kon, now's the time to be a man." He paused and inhaled, exhaled. "Here goes – nothing!"

He ran at the wall and up the vertical surface.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin blocked the slashing blow from Hitsugaya's sword. "Wait!"

"What?"

"That's the fire alarm! We need to get to our bodies!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Miss Yamashita was unruffled. "All right. Everyone is to queue up in pairs and head to the field. Walk quickly but do not run. Leave everything behind."

"But Miss-"

"Leave everything behind, Tina. Drop the note."

Kon scrambled into the classroom, as stealthily as he could among the forest of legs. Once or twice he was trodden on heavily and had to suppress his oofs and ouches. 

Eventually he reached Hitsugaya's gigai. Tugging on Hitsugaya's replacement soul's legs, he gestured in the direction of the toilet. The boy nodded and, as the class pushed out, he ducked and ran to the washroom.

"What are you?" The gigai asked Kon, an innocently confused look on his face that the real Hitsugaya would never, ever wear in a million years.

The stuffed plushie folded his pudgy arms. "My name is Kon. I'm a modsoul, like you, and I've been sent to warn you.

"But, Kon? Why are you here?"

"That's not important. I'm here to warn you of a grave danger. Whatever Tina says to you, make sure you say no. Got it?"

"Whatever Tina says to me I say no," the boy intoned dutifully. Then he wrinkled his brow, and asked, "Why do I say no?"

"Just do it, unless you want Hitsugaya-taichou to be angry with you."

"Oh. Okay then."

The boy and the stuffed lion plushie stood in the toilet for some time, while the fire alarm shrieked through the building. Kon then shouted, "Well then, go to your class! Gather in the field!"

"Oh. Okay then."

As the artificial soul scuttled out of the toilet, Kon shook his head. "I can't believe I'm actually developed from those jokers."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The gigai reached the school field a short moment before Miss Yamashita began taking attendance. 

"Toushiro-kun," Tina said coyly as they stood in pairs out in the field. Karin was standing motionless just in front of Tina, and she was wearing a scowl. Tina smiled inwardly. This was going to be _fun._

If Karin and her twin thought they were going to ignore Tina the princess, they would learn something different.

Hitsugaya nodded at Tina.

"Toushiro-kun, are you busy this Saturday?"

"No."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

As the two shinigami raced to their respective bodies they both felt the discordant chord across their senses.

"What was that?"

Hitsugaya shushed her. "Hollow."

"Where?"

"Inside the school." He focused his senses. "It seems to be quite powerful too."

Karin hoisted Yuutsubame onto her shoulders. "What are we waiting for?" She flash-stepped into the main building, leaving Hitsugaya's exasperated expression behind.

"She never waits," he grumbled to himself as he dashed in behind the girl.

They raced down the long corridors, trying to pinpoint the location. Hitsugaya finally caught up with Karin – the girl was exceptionally gifted in shunpo – and hauled her behind him.

"Don't argue," he warned before she could open her mouth.

She cocked her head at him, offended, but before her stinging rebuttal issued a fiery burst exploded near both of them.

"What the frikkin' hell was that?" Karin managed. The ends of her hair were singed slightly.

Hitsugaya drew his sword. "Stay back and learn."

"Like hell I am."

"Don't. Argue." The clear glare he fixed on Karin silenced her momentarily. She inhaled and stood back.

The hollow was salamander-like, its reptilian body clinging to the ceiling and walls. Already the plaster bore a perfect black and ash imprint of a chrysanthemum. 

Hitsugaya released Hourinmaru and soon frost covered the interior. Karin backed away further; she had no intention of being frozen again, as she had been at least half a dozen times just by Hitsugaya's shikai alone.

"An ice-wielder, eh?" the hollow hissed, forked tongue – ew, forked _tongues – _darting out. A massive limb smashed into the wall as it slithered closer. "What say we kick this up a notch, eh?"

Hitsugaya wondered briefly if this creature was the reason for the fire alarm, or perhaps it had been a serendipitous coincidence. He angled his blade at the mask and shot forward, a miniature ice-god on wings.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I was wondering if you already made plans for the Autumn Harvest dance," Tina said softly as the teachers organized the entire school. Some of the PE teachers were returning to the building to check for the source of fire, and someone shouted that they could hear fire engine sirens.

"No." Hitsugaya's replacement soul turned away to gawk at the fire engines now racing up to the building.

Tina pulled his attention back on herself. "That's such a coincidence! I don't have plans yet either. Can you believe it?"

"No."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The salamander was remarkably fast for its bulk, and Hitsugaya dodged the thrashing tail just in time. The hollow snapped its jaws at the diminutive captain and then released another large fireball, which Hitsugaya blocked with Hourinmaru's wings.

"Error in judgment, boy, eh?" The hollow chuckled when Hitsugaya's wings fell apart in chunks. "Guess your ice wings ain't powerful enough to withstand the samadhi fire, eh?" It blasted again, this time a long sustained flame that Hitsugaya ducked awkwardly by diving into an adjacent classroom, scattering several chairs and tables. It was the music room, with no windows and entirely soundproof walls, and far too many flammable materials: curtains, scores, wooden floors.

The salamander hollow continued breathing flame into the room, and Hitsugaya could feel Hourinmaru's frantic complaint.

_I know this is hard on you, Hourinmaru, but I need you to help me._

_I want to, Hitsugaya, but without water in the atmosphere I can't produce ice!_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kon was scrambling frantically along the corridors.

"I didn't mean to call it! I didn't mean to call it!"

"Call what?" A hand swooped down and picked the stuffed lion up.

Kon looked into Karin's narrowed eyes. He stuttered, "I smashed the fire alarm to get Hitsugaya-taichou's body out of class and suddenly the salamander hollow appeared! I didn't mean to call it!"

"Oh?" Karin flung the toy away into safety. "Get outta here, whatever you are. It's dangerous for anything flammable."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The mirrors, unable to take the extended heat from the salamander's samadhi flame, exploded, a million glittering shards that cut into Hitsugaya's now unprotected skin. The ice that usually shielded him from such injuries were thinner than paper now. The hollow had effectively dried up the air around the captain, and Hourinmaru had no raw material.

Undeterred Hitsugaya slashed and stabbed, twice narrowly missing the mask and once nearly getting impaled by a huge swinging claw.

"Gekido, Yuutsubame!"

_Dammit, Karin._ For a split second Hitsugaya was irritated that the girl had, once again, ignored his direct orders, but he took advantage of the sudden release of water from Karin's shikai.

Hourinmaru roared into life, exploiting the sudden influx of liquid into an unstoppable attack. The ice sword that smashed into the hollow's mask was larger than any Hitsugaya had ever manifested. The hollow gave one, brief, pathetic shriek before fading into nothingness.

"You were supposed to stay back," he said, not looking at Karin.

"If I did, you'd have been one crispy ex-captain, Hitsugaya," retorted Karin, sheathing her sword.

The white-haired captain looked at the brunette human girl. "In war the general expects the soldier to follow instructions."

"Screw instructions. I'm not a soldier."

"No you're not. You are Kurosaki Ichigo's sister, and he would kill me if anything happened to you." Hitsugaya noted the fleeting look of dismay in her face. "He is more concerned about you than you know, Karin. I cannot let any harm come to you now that he knows I know you."

"I won't let myself _be _harmed, Hitsugaya. I'm not my brother, haring off to fight because he has to." Karin swallowed. "I just want the strength to protect my family while he's gone." She paused and added, "That's really all I can do now anyway."

Hitsugaya and Karin studied each other for a long beat.

He broke the silence first. "Let's get back to our bodies."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Finally!" Tina exhaled when the principal finished addressing the school on their quick response to the fire alarm.

The alarm had been tripped outside a classroom, but the fire was in the corridor and the music room. No one knew who set the alarm off, and most students were tittering among themselves.

Hitsugaya's replacement soul stood at attention still. He hadn't looked anywhere else throughout the time Tina had been jabbering at him, and the girl was slightly put off.

_If he wasn't the cutest guy in class I wouldn't give him the time of day,_ Tina thought waspishly. But she put on her sweetest, most innocent smile. "Toushiro-kun, so... since I don't have plans, and you don't have plans, perhaps you wouldn't mind asking me to go to a certain, I don't know, dance, maybe?"

"No."

"Great! I'll see you – are you all right, Toushiro-kun?"

"I said, call me Hitsugaya." Hitsugaya shook his head clear of the cobwebs. He bent to pick up a small marble-sized ball. "What was it you were saying?"

"You just asked me out to the dance." 

"I didn't." Hitsugaya was sure of that. He tried to recall the girl's name and failed. _T something..._

"Well, technically you didn't, but you said you wouldn't mind asking me."

"I wouldn't mind, but I didn't. And I have other things on, uh... Tammy."

The girl's eyes widened with annoyance. "The name is _Tina, _Toushiro-kun."

Hitsugaya was only slightly apologetic. "Tina. I have something on in the evenings, so, thanks but no thanks."

"You said you had-"

"He said no." Karin was not looking at either of them.

"Excuse me? Who gave you permission to butt in on our private conversation?"

"The moment it became public conversation, Tina," Karin said, still not looking around. "Besides, the principal said we were to be dismissed for the day."

The brown-haired girl placed her well-manicured hand on Karin's shoulder and turned her around while the rest of the school flooded into the building to retrieve their bags. "Listen, tomboy. This is my show, so stop stealing the spotlight."

"I'm not in showbiz, Tina, and I'm not interested in your little doings. But Hitsugaya and I have to go now, so please take your hand off of me."

"Hitsugaya and you? Give me a break," Tina scoffed. "Just because you two have been hanging out together don't make you a couple."

"I didn't say we were, but at least he knows my name, _Tammy_." Karin flexed her fingers. "And if you want a break, I'm sure I can oblige-"

"Enough." Hitsugaya stepped in and broke up the staring match. "I'm going back to the classroom to get my things, and Karin, you know where to go after school. Tam – I mean, Tina, I apologize, but I need the evenings free. Have fun on Saturday."

When Karin didn't budge, Hitsugaya treated her to a captain's glare. She shook off Tina's hand and marched off, leaving an incredibly pissed off transfer student standing in the middle of the field.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**A/N: will be away from my laptop and my country for a bit, so won't be updating till the last week of December. Happy holidays, all!**


	9. A Big Mess

They slouched off, one on either side of the road.

Both were wrapped up in their little world of resentment and worry: Karin at her brother, Hitsugaya at the increasingly frustrating feel of uselessness in the human world. Neither noticed the lithe figure shadowing them.

When they reached Urahara's shop ten minutes later than usual, neither noticed that the door was ajar.

Karin yanked the front door open and threw her schoolbag on the floor as per usual. "I'm here."

"We're here," said Hitsugaya, unslinging his bag from his shoulder. Then his frown deepened. "Where is everyone?"

Before Karin could answer him a shrill ringing sound echoed about the dim and cramped space. Hitsugaya flipped his phone open. "Yeah."

There was an urgent spate of talk on the other end, to which Hitsugaya only grunted replies. Then he shut his phone and said to Karin, "Go down the ladder and start your training. There's something I need to supervise."

Karin scowled. She waited for Hitsugaya to pull her shinigami form out of her body. As he held her hand with his own gloved one they both heard a familiar voice.

"What are you two doing?"

Karin and Hitsugaya turned to see Ichigo, arms folded, eyes blazing. Hitsugaya recovered first. "I'm holding her hand."

"I can see that." Ichigo stomped down the one step. "Why are you doing it?" He reached for their joined hands and pulled them apart.

Only to realize he hadn't pulled them apart.

"Wha-" he stammered, then twisted around to stare at Karin, holding Hitsugaya's hand. And then at Karin, unconscious. "What the bloody, freaking, insane hell happened?"

He whirled on Hitsugaya. "You made my sister a shinigami?!"

"I _chose _to be a shinigami, Ichi-nii." Karin was not about to stand for stupid accusations. "He has nothing to do with this."

Hitsugaya's face was set and he shook Ichigo off. "I have to meet Matsumoto. Karin needs to be in training in the basement. And as for you... I think you have an elsewhere to be."

Ichigo was stunned when Hitsugaya carried Karin's body into the little side room where Ururu was waiting, her eyes wide with overhearing the little confrontation. Karin took the chance to hop downstairs. 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Was that your brother yowling away upstairs?" Yoruichi asked when Karin had shimmied to the bottom of the ladder.

"The one and stupid." Karin sighed. "He knows now."

Yoruichi gave a very feline shrug. "He has to, eventually. Better for him to release all the anger now than-"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, KARIN?!"

Karin and Yoruichi shielded their ears. Ichigo was furiously glaring at his sister, his hands gripping the thin shoulders beneath the shinigami uniform. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? It's not a game, Karin, it's about responsibility and, and life and death and – gods, Karin, what made you do this?"

"I had to, Ichi-nii, there was no other way," said Karin evenly. She pulled away from his grip. A silent ring of spectators had gathered: Renji, Sado, Urahara, Tessai, Ikkaku, Yumichika, even Jinta. Yoruichi stood behind her student, her unspoken support greatly appreciated by Karin.

"What do you mean no other way?"

"You weren't around, Ichi-nii. You weren't there with the family-"

"Oh this is not gonna be about me-"

"Be quiet, Ichigo. Let her talk." Renji's solemnity startled the orange-haired teenager. Sado's eyes echoed Renji's words.

Karin took a deep breath. "Over summer, I was attacked by hollows. Many times. I managed to escape, and sometimes some of us could take down the weaker ones. But when I was alone, or with Yuzu... when a hollow appeared I was helpless. I couldn't protect myself at all. All I could do was run."

"I would've protected you," protested Ichigo. He was no longer shouting, but the hurt was evident in his tone. "You didn't have to do this. You shouldn't have to do this, Karin."

"You weren't around, Ichi-nii. You can't be around all the time," Karin insisted. "And now stronger hollows are appearing and, and they make me nauseous and ill and I just keep feeling the helplessness grow. I hate it, Ichi-nii. I hate that I can't be of use."

"You're not useless." Ichigo was still now. Karin looked into warm brown eyes, so like their mother's.

She looked down again. "I was. I couldn't protect the family like you could, and Daddy had to keep worrying about why I kept falling sick so often and... When Hitsugaya offered me a way out of the predicament I had to take it."

"So it was him," said Ichigo.

The bald shinigami placed his hands on his hips. "Look, Ichigo, I haven't been watching her progress, but I believe in Hitsugaya-taichou's assessment. If he offered her a chance to be a shinigami, I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Ikkaku is right, Ichigo," Yumichika said. Karin was surprised; the elegant shinigami had spoken less than five sentences to her throughout their acquaintance. He went on. "She is a natural at shunpo and her zanjutsu is improving each time I see her. Hitsugaya-taichou knows what he is doing."

"But she's so young!" Ichigo protested weakly.

Karin prodded him with Yuutsubame. "I'm also a Kurosaki, Ichi-nii. The shinigami thing? It's in our blood."

"Dad and Yuzu aren't shinigami, Karin. You are. And you're risking your life. I can't be protecting you if you go out risking it."

Neither Kurosaki saw the fleeting exchange of looks between Urahara, Tessai and Yoruichi.

Karin stepped forward. "Ichigo."

Her brother looked at her, startled by her seriousness. She inhaled sharply. Then she stomped on his foot, as hard as she could, and added a punch to his gut.

She yelled as he coiled into a ball, "Why do you think _you _have to protect _me, _Ichi-nii? I can protect myself! There is a war coming, and you can't just keep taking on the responsibility of protecting everyone! You won't have the time or the capacity!! Why do you think we're training?! Because we know we can contribute! I can't fight Aizen or, or an arrancar, but I can keep the hollows at bay until reinforcements arrive! I found my responsibility." She knelt to glare into Ichigo's eyes. "I found what I can contribute to the safety of my town, my family, my world. Don't force me to let it go. Don't take it from me."

"She's right," said Yoruichi, helping Karin to her feet. Ichigo struggled up on his own. The slim woman looked at Ichigo. "She may not be as powerful as you in terms of reiatsu, but she is more technically adept. And she isn't as risk-loving as you think, Ichigo. She knows when to attack and when to retreat."

There was a long, tense moment. 

"I can't do anything about this, can I?" Ichigo finally exhaled, shoulders slumping.

"Nope." Karin's tone was suspiciously upbeat.

Ichigo scrubbed his hair. "I don't know what dad and Yuzu would say if they ever find out. And you," he said, a finger pointing at Karin's nose, "don't you dare die or do anything stupid like that. If you die, I'm telling."

"I won't." She grinned when he roughed up her hair, like he used to when he was younger. "And I'll tell too if you die."

"Like I will. And remind me to kill Toushiro when I meet him again. Doing this behind my back..." he muttered to himself as he went to the ladder. Urahara passed him a small container, which Ichigo pocketed. 

Karin jogged up to her brother and gave him an impromptu hug. "Thanks, Ichi-nii."

"Yeah, yeah..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I knew it," Tina crowed softly when Hitsugaya left the dingy shop. She slid behind the lamppost as quickly as she could, noting that Hitsugaya was frowning at his cell phone. She wondered why.

Briefly she debated following him, but decided to peek in the shop to find out what happened with Karin.

That tomboy was not getting away with intercepting Tina's efforts.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ichigo dodged the slim girl coming into the shop. "Ururu!" he called out. "Customer!"

"Yes!" The petite but deadly brunette kid came out from the side room, quickly sliding the door closed. "Good afternoon, how may I help you?"

"Uh... hi." Tina was a little stunned – how did the girl know she had entered?

Ichigo waved Ururu goodbye as he dashed off to the warehouses again.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin was on her third circuit trying to tag Yoruichi when they all heard the explosion upstairs.

Urahara was the first up the ladder, followed by Yoruichi and Karin.

The shop was in splinters. "Ururu!" Urahara caught the girl up in his arms. The girl opened her eyes and blinked tiredly. The shopkeeper bent to listen to the whispered words then passed her to Tessai who had followed from the basement.

Yoruichi stepped up to Urahara, her long fingers on his bicep. "How is she?"

"She's tough, you know that." Urahara hissed out a breath. Karin suddenly crumbled to her knees, shaking and sweating. Hearing the sound of tumbling merchandise Urahara turned around, instantly apologetic. "Karin-chan, I'm sorry, I forgot you were behind me."

"It- it's okay," Karin breathed out. The onslaught of killing intent had taken her by surprise. What was more impressive was that Yoruichi hadn't even flinched, hadn't even blinked, as if nothing had happened.

_Wow._

_I'd say._

_Yuu, didja feel that too?_

_Sure did, girlie. Wouldn't want to face off with the red princess there. Wouldn't mind facing her though._

_Yoruichi-san?_

_Not her. The other one._

_His sword is _female?

_A very pretty one too, to judge from what I feel. Hmmmrr._

_You just growled. No way am I gonna face his sword just cos _you _wanna flirt. Pervert._

_Like you weren't flirting with the dragon's wielder yourself, bimbo._

_Shut up, fishface._

_Make me, whiner._

"Karin, Ururu said there was a girl about your age who was taken away. Brown hair, slim, had an English accent, kind of pretty."

"Tina? What was she doing here?" Karin checked her response, then added, "Who or what took her?"

Urahara raised his hat a fraction. "Probably hollow. The blast was very probably a cero blast, since I can't locate shell fragments about the shop. And besides, the place stinks of it. JINTA!"

"Yes, boss!"

"Clean it up. Deadline: twenty-eight minutes."

"What!?"

"And the reward: the tickets to the next big game."

"I'm on it, boss!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx 

Tina felt groggy and sick.

She was moving... but she wasn't moving any part of herself. Something held her in tight bonds, cutting into her arms, and there was a stench of rotten fruit hanging around her.

Then she passed out again.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin pushed past Sado and said firmly, "I'm going after her."

"No you're not," chorused Urahara and Yoruichi simultaneously. The shopkeeper nodded at Sado and Renji. "Keep her here."

"How do you plan to track her when you don't even know what she looks like?"

"Souls leave signatures to the attuned eye, Karin. You should know that by now." Yoruichi said. She tied her hair back in the usual style, then turned a glare on Karin. "Stay here."

Urahara didn't signal his longtime partner but both ran off at the same time. Within seconds neither could be seen.

"Wait!" Karin yelled abruptly, dashing out the door. 

Renji followed, his red hair flowing in the stiff breeze. "What is it, Karin?"

"They're going the wrong way!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya was irritated. "You said it was here."

"They're late. How is that my fault, taichou?" replied Matsumoto, almost flippantly. "Besides, it's not like you have to be there to watch her train."

She peeked at his expression from the corner of her eye. To her intense disappointment he was as impassive as ever. If anything the almost-permanent scowl deepened.

After two minutes he spoke up. "Ichigo has found out."

"You've seen Ichigo? How is he?"

"He's alright. But there is something that is bothering me." He turned his ice-blue gaze on his lieutenant. "Is there another shinigami in the Kurosaki family?"

"What? No!" denied the strawberry blond vehemently. _Damn, has he found out?_ "Why do you ask?"

"Urahara-san or Yoruichi-san mentioned telling 'Kurosaki' about Karin's training. I thought they meant Kurosaki Ichigo, but he had no knowledge of it whatsoever." He bit his thumb knuckle, deep in thought. "But when I visited this morning I couldn't feel anyone else's reiatsu besides Ichigo, Rukia and Karin's."

"Perhaps there is another Kurosaki household in this town?"

"Then why did he or she need to be notified of Karin learning to be a shingami?" Hitsugaya countered. 

Matsumoto made sure her face betrayed nothing.

Hitsugaya's scowl softened. "I can't wait. I'm going for a walk."

"But, taichou-"

"Call me when and if they finally get here."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Renji was agitated. "I'm not as brilliant as Yoruichi-san at tracking, but even I can tell she's headed in the correct direction."

"No. She's. Not." Karin pulled away from his restraining hands. She furrowed her brows slightly, scenting the air. "I can feel Tina nearby."

"Tina?"

"The girl," Sado replied on behalf of the brunette girl now straining her senses. "Her classmate."

Karin swerved round to face Renji. "Look, Abarai-san, I know I'm right about this. I swear if the hollow is too strong I'll just run away. Heck, maybe I'll run away anyway; it's not like I like Tina any more than she does me."

Renji hesitated.

"What's happening?"

Sado and Renji tilted their heads upwards, only to see Hitsugaya hop down from the roof of the nearby ceiling. Karin didn't bother to look around, but she said, "Tina was here. She's been taken."

"Tina?" Hitsugaya tried to recollect the face that went with the name. "Who's Tina?"

"The girl you kept calling Tammy this morning? The one that was trying to get you to ask her out?"

Renji kept that tidbit of news aside to share with Matsumoto. 

Karin's back was rigid. She asked, still not turning around, "I'm going after her. You coming along?"

"It's too-"

"If you dare say it's too dangerous..." Karin's head snapped around for a second before she took off. Dust swirled in her wake.

Hitsugaya grimaced. "She never waits." Pulling himself out of his gigai, he told the two to keep watch over the shop and try to contact Urahara and Yoruichi. Then he followed the neon-brilliant glare of Karin's reiatsu.


	10. Different Tastes

The two ran on, senses strained.

Hitsugaya stopped abruptly. "It doesn't make sense that they can't track the hollow, Karin. They've been shinigami for a very long time."

"I don't know how to say it, but there's more than one trace of the hollow in different directions. And these traces have the same feel... all except one."

"That would be Tammy's."

"Tina's." Karin was amused. "Do you do that on purpose?"

"I tend not to associate myself too closely with humans," he said loftily, eyes scanning for hollows.

Karin felt piqued. "Really."

They raced forward, Karin's senses strained to the hilt... "Found it," she said. Then she shuddered involuntarily. "It's all... clammy and, and sick or something."

"Thass cossss I came frommm a ssswamp."

Hitsugaya and Karin swerved about to see a dripping hollow rear above them both. Its mask was oddly featureless, kind of like the nameless creature from _Spirited Away_. But then the hollow didn't need a recognizable face when it had an unforgettable _smell._

The stench of rotten produce hit their sense of smell at the same time, and Hitsugaya turned a delicate shade of green trying not to regurgitate everything he'd eaten the past three hours.

Karin retreated upwind. "Hey, stinky, where's Tina? Why do you want her?"

"She sssmellsssss niiiice... and ssssshe'sssss been eluding us for too long, too long..." the hollow began to whimper, rocking back and forth, holding itself about its torso. "Too long... too long..."

_Mad_, Hitsugaya thought. The hollow must've gone mad.

He darted forward and slashed up, and weird yellow-green goo spurted out of the hollow instead of the usual dark blood. Hitsugaya managed to avoid getting splashed by ducking and rolling out of the way.

Karin made a face veering between amused and disgusted. "Where's Tina?"

"Gonnne, gone gone gone gone gone..." the thing sang stickily. Karin was repulsed – it looked, to all extent and purpose, like a phlegm monster with a tooth stuck to the top of the vomit pile.

But even over the unbelievable stench of the hollow Karin could feel the thread-thin vibration of Tina's soul, an acidic twang that stuck to the back of her throat like the aftertaste of flu or cough medicine. 

_No wonder I dislike her on sight. Her signature's so darn grating._

_The girl?_

_You noticed too?_

_Not really. She's insignificant. Nothing like the princess the wizard was holding onto..._

_Stop fantasizing about a potentially lethal opponent, scaly-breath. _

_I don't ask you to stop fantasizing about the dragon's -_

_Shut up. Change of topic: I wonder why the hollow want Tina._

_If you wanna ask, girlie, better ask your boy to stop hacking away or you'll have to speak to kibbles and bits._

_HE'S NOT MY BOY!_

_Geez, relax, girlie. Ooh, another great hit-_

Karin forced her mind out of conversing with Yuutsubame. The fishman had the uncanny ability to distract her with snide remarks just when she needed to focus. She unsheathed her sword, but was unsure if she ought to jump into the fray.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ikkaku scratched his chin, making a raspy sound.

"Hey, you."

Karin turned around, her hair plastered to her sweaty face. She frowned at the bald man pointing at her with his sword. "What?"

"C'mere."

"Not gonna." Karin turned back to her mid-training snack while attacking her homework. She made a mental note never to ask Urahara-san for help in math again, the man had some serious issues to work out regarding modern education.

"All I asked for was help with fractions," Karin grumbled under her breath, trying to erase the complicated formulas now scribbled all over her workbook.

Then something prodded the back of her skull.

Karin pushed it away and snapped, "What do you want?"

"You Ichigo's kid sis?"

"Who you calling a kid, baldie?"

"Hey." The glare in the bald man's eyes were stunningly scary. Karin felt him rein in his stormy reiatsu. "Alright, truce. I be just that bit more polite, and you'll be a lot more polite."

"Yeah. What do you want?"

"You're holding your sword wrong."

"What?" Karin shook her mind away from fractions and equations and grabbed the handle of her blade. "I always hold it like this. Hitsugaya holds it like this too-"

"His sword is different from yours. Your sword is hiltless and there ain't nothing protecting your fingers from the blade."

"So?"

Ikkaku demonstrated. "You gotta ensure your grip won't slide..."

The next half an hour Yoruichi graciously ceded to Ikkaku's impromptu lecture about holding swords and also the rules of battle.

"... and it should always be one-on-one."

"No freaking way," Karin said, awed. "That means suicide if the opponent is way stronger than you."

"That's how things are-"

"Kaku, love, I don't think our philosophy suits a young shinigami just coming into her powers," Yumichika interrupted, having listened silently all through up till then. "Besides, I think she fits more with the Thirteenth."

"Huh?"

"The Thirteenth Division Captain says that a battle can be for life or for pride," Yumichika elaborated, "and the key to becoming a good shinigami is knowing the difference. And you don't enter the fray unless it's a fight to stay alive, because pride... it is irreplaceable once taken."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Shoot," Karin scolded under her breath. Hitsugaya was holding his own; there was no need for Karin to interfere. She scanned her surrounds, trying to pinpoint Tina's location, but there was too much interference from Hitsugaya, from the hollow...

A faint buzzing from somewhere behind her prompted Karin to draw Yuutsubame and whirl around, just in time to parry a stabbing blow from – the same hollow Hitsugaya was fighting?

"You're... what the hell are you?" demanded the new shinigami.

"We arrre Legion," the hollow slurred, its voice almost oily. The stench was overpowering. Karin thanked her dad silently for making her and Yuzu help out in the clinic; these sort of smells no longer turned her stomach. 

_It's turning MINE. Kill it already._

_Yuu, you don't even HAVE a stomach._

_Hey, I'm still a being in my own right-_

Karin swung the shirasaya in a tight arc, the blade flashing iridescent blue. The hollow schlupped forward, the greasy, liquid sounds of its movement making even stoic Karin slightly nauseous.

"Guess it's true there's nothing too strange in this world," the brunette muttered. "Gekido, Yuutsubame!"

The sudden roar of water swept Legion off its feet. Karin ran up the trunk of a nearby tree, and prepared to stab into the oddly flat mask when the water turned murky brown-green. Before she could figure out what happened, Legion was towering over her, a massive, watery construct.

"Thank youuuuuu, ssssshinigami," it breathed out, a toxic airborne event in itself. Karin recoiled, then choked out, "Sa-sashimasu!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya was irate.

One little hollow like this, he should have put it down already. He darted to the left, then slashed up, chipping the mask.

Another spray of foul pus shot out. The white-haired captain dodged, and was somewhat pleased that not even his haori was hit by the stinking liquid.

"Where is the girl?"

"Legion doessss not tell," it said in a sing-song voice. Something gurgled at the back of its throat, and Hitsugaya fought to contain his revulsion.

He stabbed again, but the phlegm-like covering of the hollow was amazingly thick; Hitsugaya's blow barely made a wound in its hide. "Who is Legion?"

"Weeeeeeeee are Legiiionnnn." It made to grab the slight-statured shinigami captain

Hitsugaya pushed off a tree trunk and braced his sword forward. Hourinmaru's blade cut through the hollow's outstretched arm and, pushing the advantage, slashed the hollow's mask into two. 

He was rewarded with an inhuman shriek and the explosion of the creature into tiny particles... and a drenching of pale yellow-green stinking pus that clung to his every exposed surface.

Hitsugaya looked down at himself and said something he never thought would come out from his lips. "Fuck it."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Legion screamed Urahara thought he had hurt it.

But there was no sign that it had been hurt when it started firing ceros at him.

"Easy there, big fella, I don't intend to hurt you," he said, Benihime neutralizing every cero she encountered. Urahara then effected a shrug. "Not until I got the necessary information from you anyway."

"Come on, stop playing and get on with it." Yoruichi was perched on the roof of a nearby building. She'd dispatched hers some ten minutes ago. 

Urahara sighed. He spoke to the hollow, "Look, easy way, hard way. Easy way, you tell me what I want to know, and I purify you. Hard way, you tell me everything you know and more after I torture and maim you, and perhaps I'll throw you to the mercy of your fellow hollows."

"Nnnnnnnnever!" Legion hissed angrily, and clawed ineffectually at the swift-moving Urahara.

"Yeah, those guys really have no mercy whatsoever."

Legion backed a few steps away, but felt a solid presence rear up behind him.

"He wasn't done," Yoruichi drawled, then took one step forward. "Where is the girl?"

"Legionnnnnn doesssssn't know," it slurred. 

"Really." Urahara closed the gap. Benihime was straining at the leash, eager for the kill.

"Really." Yoruichi echoed.

"Leeeggggionnn doesssssssss nnnnot know," it insisted again.

The two old friends exchanged a quick glance.

Urahara grinned sunnily. "Alright then!"

Then his blade cut the skull-like mask into two.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Need help?" Hitsugaya was oddly jaunty when he landed beside Karin.

"No! My fight." Karin grunted, then took three steps away from the very disgusting slime-covered captain. "You need a bath, pronto."

"Your attacks aren't working." He avoided the issue of personal hygiene and instead pointed out the obvious.

Karin rolled her eyes. "I know! I just... don't know why."

Hitsugaya glared sideways. Sometimes she was insightful to the point of being scary, other times she was as dense as her brother. "It's from a swamp."

"So?"

A huge arm crashed down between them, forcing Karin to flash-step away to a safer vantage point on top of a nearby slide.

"So water-based attacks won't hurt it." Hitsugaya rejoined her, and thankfully downwind from where she was. He hopped down to the ground, where the initial burst of water was coagulating into stinking mud. He shouted up, "Attack at the opportune moment!"

"What opportune moment?"

"_Soten ni zase, Hourinmaru_!"

The ice spread and covered Legion in two seconds. Karin gaped, then used shunpo to leap up the steep incline of the hollow's towering form before using Yuutsubame to slice Legion in two.

Hitsugaya leaned on his sword. "That opportune moment." Then, catching a whiff of the pong emanating from him, he shook his head resignedly. Maybe he could camouflage this by hopping into a gigai first.

Karin was standing on top of the slide, trying to locate Tina. Hitsugaya was quietly impressed when suddenly dozens of thin 'ribbons' appeared. He saw the shinigamis' interspersed with the common souls, then tried to identify the missing girl's...

"Got it." Karin reached forward and grabbed a thin strip. "Come on."

"How can we rescue her if she can't see us? It'll look odd if she floats along the streets."

"What?" Karin stopped in her tracks. "Oh. Right, shinigami form... but it's too far to get to our bodies."

Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows at her obtuseness. He flipped open his mobile phone and pressed a speed-dial button.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Where... where am I?"

Tina opened her eyes to see Karin peering down at her, an irritated frown on her face. Beside Karin was the shopgirl.

Karin snorted. "What are you, Christine Daae? No one asks 'where am I' when they wake up."

Tina looked around her. She was still in the shop. "There was this smell... and I thought I was being carried away by something..."

"Probably your imagination," Karin said. She looked bored. Tina flushed with irritation, but the brunette paid no attention. She went on, "And the smell was this tiny bottle of smelling salts. You scared Ururu out of her mind when you collapsed out of no reason. You on a diet?"  
"Yeah, but I've never fain-"

"See? Low blood sugar or something common like that. Let's get you home." With that Karin hoisted Tina to her feet. "Jinta! Send this young lady to where she belongs, alright?"

"You better be payin' me fer this," the spiky blond kid growled. "C'mon, girl. Let's get outta here."

"Wait..."

Over her protests Tina was firmly led out of the shop.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Urahara and Yoruichi were sipping coffee when Karin plodded back into the room. "Yeah, she's gone. Never figured out what happened."

"We could've just used the memory modifier."

Karin twirked a grin. "Urahara-san, it might take a lot more than that leeetle gadget to penetrate that thick skull of hers."

Yoruichi chortled at the insult. "Good one, Karin." Then, turning serious, she asked, "Did that hollow say why it was targeting Tina?"

"Something about her eluding it for too long. We couldn't get much out of it."

Urahara was thoughtful. "It would seem that it's been tracking her for a long time."

"From overseas?" Karin put in her two cents worth. She sipped her Coca-Cola. Eeugh. Flat.

"It's possible." Hitsugaya said from behind them.

Karin half-turned to see Hitsugaya emerging from the shower room. Then she felt her cheeks redden – he was half-naked, his silver hair still dripping. A blue towel hung from his neck, obviously damp. And for a not-so-mature physical form, he had a very toned physique... Abruptly Karin twisted her gaze to her lap, engaged in an inward screaming argument with her snide zanbakuto.

Hitsugaya took no notice of Karin's sudden interest in her tightly folded hands, but said to Urahara, "You didn't give me a full uniform to change into."

Amused, Yoruichi stole a glimpse of Urahara's face. The shopkeeper was suppressing his grin. The sandaled one said, "Sorry about that. I'll get one for you in a moment."

"You have another towel? This one's all wet." Hitsugaya sat in the only space available – between Yoruichi and Karin. Since the older female liked to sit cross-legged, Hitsugaya had to shuffled closer to the super-focused-on-her-hands Karin Kurosaki.

_Come on, girlie, even _I_ can recognize that he's a total babe. Get your eye candy while it's available!_

_Shut up, Yuu!_

_Why are you being so shy for? It's not as if _he _is..._

_I've never seen a male torso before, alright?!_

_Yeah, right, like you don't work in a clinic and live in a house with two grown men..._

_But daddy handles the major injuries and... it's not the same seeing family members, alright? Now shut up before I-_

_What, disembowel me?_

_Where do you get the vocabulary? It's not like I even know how to spell 'disembowel'!_

_Don't change the subject, girlie. He's really cute right now, with his hair ever so slightly rumpled and the fair skin gleaming with dampness, the towel covering his torso just enough..._

_Shut up shut up shut up!!_

"...but I haven't noticed any hint of hollow activity around her." Hitsugaya sipped his coffee. He took it black with no sugar, and privately he felt himself growing to like the beverage.

Yoruichi asked, "What about you, Karin? Did you feel hollows when you were around her? You've been interacting with Tina longer than Hitsugaya here."

"N-no." Why was she stuttering. Resolutely she kept her eyes fixed ahead of her. "But then I tend to keep out of her way. She has this very abrasive nature that just clashed with mine."

"And you are, of course, the epitome of sociable characters," said Hitsugaya offhandedly.

"Hey, at least I don't put people down just because they're different from me-" In her indignation she turned to glare at him, and was suddenly transfixed by the almost relaxed features on his face. 

_He is so much nicer-looking when he's not scowling._

_Coulda told you earlier, but nooo... you were all 'shrinking violet'..._

_Shut up, Yuu._

"Back to the point," he said, causing Karin to mentally snap out of her trance, "I think she was targeted when she got here. I remember her essence being almost... acidic? And it really grated on my nerves."

_Really?_ Karin thought.

Urahara said, "Really? I thought it rather a pleasant citrus-y feel... but we all have differing perceptions. Yoruichi insisted that the girl left a strong bitter aftertaste."

"That's because your senses get all screwed up when it comes to pretty young things,"Yoruichi deadpanned. She said to the younger two, "I'm the more objective one when it comes to soul tracing."

Hitsugaya's cell phone trilled. He flipped it open and listened to an excited string of chatter, then said, "I'll be there in ten." To Urahara, he asked, "The rest of the uniform and the gigai?"


	11. Paradigm Shift

Karin wondered why she was behaving like a moron, following Urahara's orders to follow Hitsugaya back to Orihime's place.

It was obvious he was not going to tell her what was going on; he was like her brother in this respect. All the burden in the world, and one person to bear it.

Come to think of it, she wasn't the only moron around here.

"Why am I doing this?" she wondered silently to herself. "As if some stupid author of my life has no idea what to do next and is putting me up to do weird stuff..."

Hitsugaya had stopped, and was talking to the large-bosomed Matsumoto. 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya knew Karin was feeling out of the loop, but he was still in deep thought and could not be bothered updating her.

_She's just a girl_, he told himself

"Taichou!" Matsumoto waved cheerfully. "It's here!"

Two other shinigami stood at attention and Hitsugaya nodded curtly. "Matsumoto, get them to load the screen and set up the connections asap. Seireitei says there's an update regarding the Aizen situation."

Matsumoto shooed the delivery shinigami ahead of her. While they were struggling up the stairs, Matsumoto whispered to her captain, "Taichou, Karin is-"

"-behind me. I know."

"And, taichou?"

"What?" Hitsugaya paused in his ruminations.

"You were humming as you came up the street."

"Shut up." He waited for Karin to catch up. The brunette girl was sulky-faced, no doubt mulling over some imagined slight again. He raised an eyebrow when she made to troop after Matsumoto, who was directing the delivery shinigami up the flight of stairs. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To Inoue's place?"

He shook his head. "I don't want more people aware of your training as a shinigami. It'd put you at greater risk."

Karin's eyes narrowed. Hitsugaya turned away, but was stopped by a firm grip on his arm. Surprised, his gaze fell on her determined face.

"I don't care how many people know," she stated quietly. "What is happening, Hitsugaya, is of more importance than whatever risk I'm in."

They stood, gaze locked, before he finally acceded with a curt nod.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"... Hitsugaya-taichou," Yamamoto had said as a form of goodbye.

Hitsugaya looked up and cursed the treacherous captain mutely.

By now Matsumoto and Inoue were gone, looking to update the rest of the shinigami accordingly. Karin had hidden in the bathroom at Hitsugaya's behest. This way she would be updated, and Soul Society would be kept in the dark about her existence.

He didn't want to have to worry about Karin's safety from Seireitei.

But he was now brooding over Hinamori's condition.

And Karin was leaning on the inner door of the bathroom, her expression unreadable save for a tightness around her lips.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"There's something odd going on, I know it." Tina shredded paper almost unconsciously, her fingers clenching and unclenching.

Her older sister peeked into the room. "Hey, kid, get to work on my white leather bag, will ya? I got a date coming up."

"Do it yourself." Tina was not in the mood to humor her sis.

Her sister strode into the room, slamming the door open. "Tina, you _know _you owe me big. Get to work," she said, one eyebrow raised high, "or I'll tell mom about you casting those 'spells' again."

"I wasn't casting," protested Tina, her face growing hot. "I was just-"

"I know a spell when I see one, kid." The older teen smirked. "The red candles, the stinky incense, the strange black stones... Mum thought I was doing some drugs. By the way, Tina, what spell was that?"

"It wasn't a spell!"

"Whatever. Get my bag cleaned and I won't talk."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yuzu knew from her sister's face that Karin had had a bad day.

So Yuzu did what she could – her specialty: rose coffee, with a dash of cinnamon, and a blueberry muffin warmed up from the morning's batch.

Karin warmed her hands with the cup, thanking Yuzu absently while she stared out of the window from Ichigo's bed.

Yuzu sat beside her, just listening to the silence of Ichigo's absence roaring over both of them.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Dinner was a subdued affair. Isshin tried to liven up the atmosphere, but failed to elicit more than an annoyed grunt from Karin.

He missed his son's presence too. Whether the boy liked it or no, he had taken Masahi's place and become the central figure of the Kurosaki household. And now the family was off-kilter because the center was no longer there.

He washed up that night, excusing Yuzu, who was still a little feverish. Karin had pulled herself upstairs, obviously bothered and tired, but unwilling to confide to anyone.

And Rukia had not returned either.

Isshin scrubbed the pot harder, willing everything to return to normal as soon as possible.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin was already in bed when Yuzu came in.

"What's wrong, Karin-chan?" Yuzu finally ventured to ask.

Karin was silent for a long, tense beat. Then she sat up. "Yuzu, what do you think of Hitsugaya?"

"He's... kind of scary." Yuzu brushed her short hair before changing into her pajamas. "But somehow he feels like a reliable and responsible person. He hardly smiles, though, so I don't dare to try talking to him."

"Hmmm." Karin hugged her knees.

"You like him, don't you, Karin-chan?" Yuzu climbed in the bed and sat beside Karin. Karin started to deny everything but halted when she saw the mischievous glint in her twin's eyes.

Finally, Karin nodded, just a little. "But Yuzu... he's not for me."

"He hangs out exclusively with you, Karin-chan. He barely talks to anyone else."

"I know, and that's why I, like, kind of... like him. But he's..." Karin thought about the happy gleam in Hitsugaya's ice-blue orbs when the dark-haired shinigami appeared on screen, the joy evident in his voice when he was telling her to address him as 'Hitsugaya-taichou', the genuine smile on his face, and the hatred when he muttered the word 'Aizen'. "Yuzu, he likes someone else."

Yuzu pursed her lips. "Does he? Do I know her?"

"No, I don't know her either. But she's really pretty, and they... I believe they've known each other for a while. They have this – I don't know, chemistry?"

Yuzu stroked Karin's hair from her face. "That doesn't mean you can't like him, you know."

"I know." Karin patted Yuzu's hand. "You're not well yet. Go and sleep."

"Don't stay up too late, Karin-chan." Yuzu yawned and clambered over to her own bed, Bostafu already lying on her pillow. 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ikkaku and Yumichika appeared punctually at the meeting point. "Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I trust Matsumoto has updated you both on the situation."

"Yes taichou," Yumichika nodded once. "But is Seireitei certain of the timeline?"

"As far as Urahara was willing to divulge, yes." Hitsugaya folded his arms over his chest. "I, for one, am maintaining an open mind. Aizen might be thinking of an attrition war – wear us out one by one, instead of an all-out battle."

"Or he could be considering guerrilla warfare." Ikkaku mulled aloud. "Ichimaru seems the type to press for it."

"How much influence does Ichimaru have over Aizen?" Hitsugaya asked abruptly.

Ikkaku was startled. "I don't know... a lot?"

"He has quite a fair bit, but not enough to sway Aizen's mind on the type of battle." Yumichika placed a manicured finger on his lips thoughtfully.

Hitsugaya barked, "On what basis do you make that assessment?"

Ikkaku and Yumichika shared a look. Ikkaku mouthed, "Tell him."

"Um... we sort of... walked in on them some years ago."

"Walked in...?" the captain repeated dumbly. Then the light bulb brightened. "Oh."

"Yeah." The two eleventh division officers shifted. They weren't sure if the young captain was already... exploring, and they were definitely not about to pry.

Hitsugaya's attention returned to them. "You may go. I'm on this shift."

"Isn't Rukia supposed to be here as well?"

"She's gone back to Soul Society for intensive training. With Inoue."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin waited until she was sure Yuzu was asleep. Then she sat up and dug around her bag.

She pulled out a small badge.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Karin patted herself on the back for not screaming with fright. She barely looked around. "I'm getting into shinigami form."

And she did. Then she carried her inert body onto the bed as best as she could. "You know, it wouldn't physically kill you to help move, uh, me."

He ignored her statement. "If you want to move about as a shinigami, you might as well go on patrol with me then."

"What?"

Hitsugaya unslung his sword. "You don't feel it?"

Karin climbed out the window and hopped to the ground after Hitsugaya. She closed her large eyes and, as Yoruichi had taught her, let her senses expand over the neighborhood...

She felt it, a jarring discord in the night.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Tina could feel the spell working.

It was easy to slip back into voodoo; easier to break the unwritten code. The smudge of bone ash on the symbol began to glow, and she could sense the spirit of her father rising. The power was rising.

"Come on, dad, please..." she pleaded in her mind, willing the spell to work. It _had_ to work. "Please, I need your advice..."

The window splintered into glittering shards, slicing her arms and legs, and suddenly Tina was terrified. 

There was nothing there.

She blinked her eyes, then leaped to her feet in abject fear.

The window was whole and unbroken.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya unsheathed his sword. "Now we know why she was hunted by the hollow."

"She's been raising them," Karin snorted, Yuutsubame already primed. The tassels sunk deeper into her flesh and she swallowed involuntarily; it was as if Yuutsubame wanted to channel all of Karin's blood into raw reiatsu.

Both shinigami felt the coppery blood-tang permeate the room. Tina's glance was darting about, but she was frozen in position.

Karin realized she was perversely glad the girl was scared. _That'd teach her to mess with the occult._

Then she heard a soft tune coming from her right. "Hitsugaya."

"Hmm?"

"You're humming."

"Am not."

"Are too – look out!"

A large clawed hand shot through the floor where Hitsugaya had been standing. The floor splintered and Karin tackled Tina to the corner. Even though she knew the girl couldn't hear her, she yelled, "Stay here!"

Hitsugaya had skewered the hand to the floor, then braced himself as the rest of the hollow followed. Its jaws were snapping wildly.

Karin angled her zanpakuto but Hitsugaya yelled for her to guard Tina. "Remember the previous hollow?"

"Right." Legion – multiple copies of itself. After corroborating with Urahara, Karin and Hitsugaya found out that there had been six appearances of the stinking hollow. One had turned up at the shop, and one had shown its mask near Yumichika's favorite manicure cum hair salon.

Hitsugaya sliced the hollow apart, then jerked when his communicator beeped noisily. He flipped it open. 

Eight glowing dots were making their way towards them.

Karin glared at Tina, still cowering in the corner. "Can't we just let her see us for a second just so I can CHEW HER OUT?!"

"No." His matter-of-fact tone irritated Karin further.

"Why were you humming?"

"No I was _not _humming!"

"Were too – hey!" A skeletal arm, similar to the one Hitsugaya just dispatched, smashed through the window, and shoved Karin all the way to the far wall. Pinned, Karin tried to push her way out but cold hear something crack.

Then the pressure fell away, leaving a scowling Hitsugaya and a dismembered hollow arm on the floor. The limb disintegrated, as did the rest of the hollow. "Eight more, remember?"

"Shouldn't we fight outside then?" the brunette asked. "Less chance of Tina getting involved."

"We need to undo whatever spell she's been using first."

The two looked around, not heeding the stunned Tina still cowering in the corner. It wasn't as if she could _see _them anyway.

Karin located it first. "There. Candles, incense, and a strange glowing thing. Could be some ritual, could be a night light setup."

Hitsugaya came over. "That is the resurrection symbol from the cult of Isis and Osiris. I don't think it takes batteries, Karin."

The girl was impressed despite herself. "You actually made a joke."

"I'm a funny guy," he said, his intense gaze flickering to her for a second.

_Oh boy. I'm not already confused enough?_

_I'd say. Girlie, go for it. He's really cute. And I guess I could learn to live with that annoying, I'm-so-superior dragon._

_He's a shinigami. And a captain who's goodness-knows-how-much older than me. I'm human. Also, he has someone he likes – I think._

_So? He's still a hottie. And all's fair in love and-_

_Would you focus? We have more hollows coming._

_Yeah, I know. We're gonna have a proper conversation after this._

"Hitsugaya?"

"Hmm?" The white-haired captain's eyes were still fixed on the setup.

"Is your zanpakuto chatty?"

Hitsugaya shook his head, then knelt down before the candles and the symbol. He made to sweep everything off the small table but was suddenly thrown aside. 

Karin dashed over to him. Hitsugaya rolled his shoulders, and winced. "Damn. Tina has a sacred circle about the thing. Can't break through." He looked at Karin. "And of course you're useless when it comes to kido barriers."

"Hey!"

"You are," he restated calmly. Flipping his communicator open, he dialed quickly and got Urahara on the line.

Karin sensed the next attack before it came. She flash-stepped to Tina and braced herself against the snapping jaws of the hollow.

This one looked like a piranha. Needle sharp teeth were inches from Karin's face and arms, as she valiantly used Yuutsubame to fend off the hollow, she was aware that Tina was whimpering.

"Oh shut up," Karin muttered under her breath. Tina's thin reiatsu still grated across her nerves. 

Tina snapped suddenly. "I'm seeing monsters, you and Hitsugaya are playing some sort of... dress up or cosplay in _my room_, and my daddy hasn't appeared since I got to Japan even though I'm using the same spell as I did in UK, and who the hell do you think you are to tell me to shut up?"

"What?" One moment of distraction was all the hollow needed to sink its teeth into Karin's arm. She shouted with pain, then drove her sword into the slitted eye-holes and tore her blade through the entire mask.

Hitsugaya came over. "You can see us?"

"Yeah. What's with the outfits? You two look ridiculous."

Karin hissed as Hitsugaya examined the puncture wounds. Then the captain spoke. "Stop the spell."

"I want to speak with my dad. This spell raises him."

"It's raising demons, ignoramus," Karin snarled. A quick glance outside the window and she saw Yoruichi and Ururu dispatching another piranha-face. Tessai was in his element: one kick and an open-palm blow, and one hollow down for the count. Urahara was on the sidelines, and he nodded to Karin with a fan raised in greeting.

"It's under control outside." She looked at Hitsugaya and jerked her chin at Tina. Hitsugaya pulled out a small toy.

"Tina," he said, kneeling down to look into the girl's eyes. "Please stop the spell. I don't want you to be in danger."

"Kiss me first and then we'll talk."

Karin's eyes widened as Hitsugaya considered the proposition. He wasn't going to do it. He definitely wouldn't do it.

_Would he?_


	12. Clear And Present

Hitsugaya said back on his haunches.

"Let me get this straight," he said at last. "You have just seen monsters attacking, you suddenly gained the ability to see us in our, uh, outfits, and you were trying to raise the dead... and you want me to kiss you before you'll stop the spell. You don't seem afraid or surprised."

With a one-shoulder shrug, Tina cocked her head and pointed at Karin. "She said it's all taken care of."

"I'm not going to kiss you." Hitsugaya walked to the window and hollered for Urahara to come up to the apartment. Then he swiveled on his heel and folded his arms. "Tina, how often do you cast spells?"

"It's only voodoo," she said. "I've been casting since... three years ago, when daddy... when daddy died."

"How did you come to know these spells?" Karin asked. 

Urahara popped his head into the room, and Hitsugaya nodded at the setup. Urahara took one look and began muttering something under his breath.

The girl peered at the shopkeeper. "What are you doing?"

"Your sacred circle has been tampered with," the shopkeeper answered gravely. "And I suppose you've seen holl- uh, monsters when your circles are activated."

Karin interjected. "You haven't answered my question."

"I haven't got my kiss." She stood, matching Karin's fierce glare and Hitsugaya's cool one. "Besides, what I do is entirely my own business."

"What you did almost killed people." Hitsugaya's tone was icy and cutting. Karin was pleased to see his incredibly blue eyes narrow with restrained fury. "I suppose you also cast a spell that morning of the fire alarm."

"How did you- yeah. So what if I did?" Tina was defensive now. With one last deft swipe Urahara cleared the circle of its equipment.

Karin was infuriated by her belligerence. She grabbed Tina's hand and yanked the taller girl to face her. "A fire-breathing monster attacked the school because of you, Tina! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I just wanted to speak with my dad, okay? God, I didn't mean for monsters to appear out of nowhere and, and attack-" she suddenly paused, and gasped. "you mean, that day when I fainted, I was..."

"Yeah, you were kidnapped by a monster named Legion. It was trying to eat your soul, Tina. It had already tossed you into a bog and was waiting for you to drown when we stopped it." Karin folded her arms and stepped back a pace. "Actions have consequences, Tina. It's not like you can just call up the dead without repercussions."

Urahara pulled his hat lower, hiding his amusement that Karin was mirroring Hitsugaya's stance and tone. The two were spending far too much time in each other's company.

"I miss him, alright?!" Tina shouted at Karin.

"That doesn't give you the right to do what you want without thinking!"

Hitsugaya spoke up. "Enough. You'll wake the others up if you quarrel any further. Tina, forget the spell. And forget about raising your father from the dead. He's at peace now; let him be." 

Tina was about to argue but was distracted by Urahara removing his hat and snapping open his fan. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"I'm just a handsome shopkeeper, Urahara Kisuke, at your service," he said, and bowed elegantly.

The brown-haired girl frowned, unsure of how to respond, when suddenly a puff of smoke announced the utilization of the memory modifier.

Urahara said brightly, "Come on, kids! We've got to go!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Dumb airhead," Karin muttered as they clambered out of the window.

The captain turned to Karin and said in an undertone, "You were thinking about putting your mother's soul in a gigai, so I don't think you have the right to lecture Tina at all."

They sprinted back to the shop. "I only thought about it, I didn't do it."

"And yet. You should be able to see from her point of view, Karin."

"Don't talk to me like you're my dad!"

"I'm old enough to be your grandfather," Hitsugaya said nonchalantly. "In human years anyway."

Karin stood at the door, trying to absorb the information. The white-haired shinigami didn't look back at the girl as he followed Urahara into the back room for a cup of black coffee.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_He is old enough to be my grandfather._

_Girlie, you wanna talk? Now's a good time as any._

The brunette debated following the others into the back room, but decided against it. She wandered out again and flash-stepped to the roof. Finding a spot where she had an uninterrupted view of the stars, she lay back on the tiled roof.

_Yuu._

_Yes?_

_Why do you like to talk to me so much?_

For a moment she thought she had offended her zanbakuto. But then she heard the swish of a tail and the faintest murmur of currents. She closed her large eyes and willed herself to the strange world of Yuutsubame.

_Hey._

Karin opened her eyes – and was rewarded with a cool sea-green view. Yuutsubame was lounging on a rock, his green eyes emerald-brilliant.

"Hey girlie," the merman greeted. "Nice to see ya."

"You said we should have a conversation soon, so here I am." Karin settled near Yuu. "You look good."

"I always do. What, you too dumb to notice my gorgeousness?"

They watched a shoal of bright yellow fish swim past. Yuu broke the silence. "You seem stunned by his revelation."

"I was. Still am, a little." She rubbed the back of her hand. "I never really thought about his age, y'know? He looks like he's my age. Heck, I think he's a little shorter than me, even."

"Does that stop you from liking him?"

"I don't -" she saw the knowing look in Yuu's face, the same one Yuzu wore earlier. "Alright, fine, I do, but... he's a dead guy. I'm a human being. It won't work."

"You're also a shinigami," Yuu pointed out. His hair flowed and ebbed about his head like a halo of seaweed. "Gosh, girlie, how dumb are you? If you're shinigami, you actually stand a chance!"

"Will you stop saying I'm dumb?"

"Will you stop acting dumb then?"

The two glared at each other.

Suddenly Karin burst into laughter. "You are the most irritating, snarky, sarcastic creature I have ever had the misfortune to meet!"

"And since I'm based on your soul, what does that say about you?" Yuutsubame zinged back.

"Shut up!" Karin tried to smack the fish man across his head.

Yuu dodged with a quick wriggle of his fins, then settled again. "Look, girlie, whatever happens with the dragonboy, I'll still be here to snipe at ya."

"Glad to hear that. I think." The grin on Karin's face was more appreciative than her words, and she closed her eyes again.

And opened them to see a head silhouetted against the night sky.

"Whoa!" Karin jerked upright. Then she grimaced. "Hitsugaya, you don't just sneak up on people like that. You make sounds when you walk. Like, stomp, or, or wail. Or sing an aria or something."

"Now you know how it feels," Hitsugaya said, sitting beside the girl. Karin smirked at the oblique reference to their early meetings. "And I wasn't silent when I came up here."

Karin leaned back again, her arms propping her up. "You were probably humming."

"I probably was."

She stole a glance at his face. It was, again, unusually relaxed, the stern mien of the captain replaced by the face of a young boy. She wished he would smile more, as he did when they first got to know each other. Now he was almost always frowning, or serious, or burdened...

"Why are you studying my face?" he said without turning his head.

"Uh..."

_Heh. Busted, girlie. Told you you were dumb._

_Shut up._

"I was wondering about... about the tune you used to hum."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes. "Wildflowers in summertime."

"Huh?"

"That's the title of the song. My granny taught it to me after Momo went to the academy... I used to sing it under my breath while I was clearing fields or looking for food."

"You had to clear fields?" Karin was impressed. "That's hard work."

"No work meant no food," he said simply. "It was tough, because I was the only one that needed to eat everyday. The rest, they just needed water and we had a river nearby."

Karin and Hitsugaya sat side-by-side, each musing over their own thoughts.

Finally Karin gathered up her courage. "Who is Momo?"

"The shinigami you saw today on the monitor."

"Oh."

Further silence fell, and Karin took to naming the stars in her head, ignoring Yuu's urging for her to get him to sing. She was about to stand and go when she heard him humming again. She listened for a while then decided to break the spell.

"You're humming."

"Hmm?" Hitsugaya opened his eyes. "Oh... I was thinking of the things we have to do before we return to soul society."

Karin fidgeted with her fingers, now clasped in her lap. Finally she decided to listen to Yuu. "Will you please sing the song?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember the words."

_Neat excuse._

_Maybe he really doesn't remember, Yuu._

"Why do you hum then?" _Please let it be for some reason other than thinking about someone..._

Hitsugaya frowned again. "I don't really know. Usually it's when I'm very stressed out about my responsibilities."

"So it's the hard work that gets you to hum?"

"Yes." He sighed and stood up, brushing himself off. "I should get you home. It's getting late."

_XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx_

Matsumoto patted Kon on his bonneted head. "Good job, Kon dear. These are great photos!"

"I bet Hisagi would pay to publish these in the next circular," Yumichika giggled.

Ikkaku tapped Yumichika on the head with a large knuckle. "Then he'd pay, period, when Hitsugaya-taichou sees these."

"You're such a wet blanket, Kaku-chan!"

Matsumoto picked the stuffed toy and gave him a hug. "Thanks again, Kon! Now, run along and be careful okay?"

The new camera, specially adapted to photograph shinigami, hung around Kon's neck in the disguise of a bow. The modsoul scratched the back of his head, pleased with the praise and especially pleased with the hug, scuttled out of the alley and clambered back to the girls' bedroom.

Yumichika flipped through the stack. "Them talking on the roof, them in her bedroom, them talking in the shop, him correcting her stance, that's from yesterday – ooh, check out his piercing gaze – them sharing a meal, that's also yesterday's..."

_Time to show who's the boss of this venture. _Ikkaku grinned lopsidedly. "I also got one from Urahara's security cameras... with a large bribe."

With a flourish he held it before their eyes.

"What?!" "Oh my gods!"

The other two snatched the small shot from the bald shinigami and screamed with excitement. 

"This is _priceless_!" Matsumoto squealed. 

Yumichika handed the photograph to the busty lieutenant. "He is such a spunk! And in a few more years he'll be breaking hearts all over Seireitei! Thanks Kaku-chan!"

Matsumoto was still squealing with excitement. "A blushing Karin next to a half-naked Hitsugaya-taichou... I'm gonna blow this up into a poster for the office!" 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya wondered why he felt a chill down his spine as he brushed his teeth to ready for sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

In his office, Kurosaki Isshin made a few more notes in his laptop, and leaned back in his chair. "This an official visit or a visit from old friends?"

"Both, actually," Yoruichi said with a feral grin. Urahara inclined his head in acknowledgment of the statement.

Isshin grinned brightly. "I've ice-cream in the freezer."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So she's good?" Isshin ran his fingers over his stubbly chin.

Yoruichi nodded. She had not eaten ice-cream for a long time. She wondered why not – it wasn't as if she was lactose intolerant... and then she remembered Kisuke. And his tricks with ice-cream...

The ex-captain said, "In slightly more than a month she has demonstrated remarkable progress in zanjutsu and shunpo. I'll say she's pretty much at lieutenant level in one more month if her progress continues at the same rate."

"Courtesy of Yoruichi's training," Isshin thanked the goddess of flash, "and that white-haired kid who took my place."

"That white-haired kid may be leaving soon," Urahara said. With Isshin, it was best to get to the point, else all three of them would be engaged in some silly game and forget about their true purpose in meeting. "And there may be a problem after that."

Isshin looked grave. "Is your hypothesis confirmed?"

"Verified." Yoruichi stole the rest of Urahara's ice-cream. "And it may be some time before things will settle."

Isshin leaned back and mused aloud, "Sousuke wasn't power-hungry in the beginning... I wonder what happened?"

"You used to despise humans, Isshin," Urahara reminded his old colleague. He snapped his fan shut. "And Yoruichi used to be the enforcer of laws and rules."

"And you used to be a pervert. Wait, you still are," Yoruichi put in. Over Urahara's weak protests the other two chuckled with nostalgia. "Most people change."

Urahara clapped his hands. "Alright, back to business. Isshin, your reiatsu recovery: how's it coming along?"

"Pretty okay."

"At this rate do you think you can participate in the winter battle?"

"Not a problem."

Urahara leaned forward. "What about your children?"

"Ichigo will fight," Isshin said without hesitation. "Karin..."

"She will fight." Yoruichi saw the doubt in both men's eyes, then snickered. "She will fight because _he _will fight. It's that simple, boys."


	13. Rephrase The Issue

Karin observed Tina carefully the next day in school.

She was her usual Queen-of-the-world self, but every now and then she would shake her head as if to clear something from her brain.

_Cobwebs from all that empty space_, Karin thought cattily, ignoring the snort of laughter from Yuutsubame. She was still irritated with the girl's attempt to blackmail a kiss from Hitsugaya.

Said captain was slouching in his chair, bored out of his mind. 

Karin was getting good at reading the white-haired captain; the slight frown was his stock expression, a wry grimace indicates frustrated amusement, a scowl a warning for the idiotic, an almost-smile showing his inner elation or bashfulness, eyes rolling meant 'what am I supposed to do with this moron', an actual smile a reason for a national holiday, and a laughing Hitsugaya was a legend and a myth.

_And you claim you don't like him?_ Yuu said slyly.

_Oh grow up. Not everything is about crushes and, and liking boys._

Yuu snickered. _But you have a crush. And you do like him._

Karin groaned silently. She just had to manufacture her own enemy, didn't she?

"Hey." Yuzu's voice shook Karin out of her reverie. "What's going on?"

"What's going on what?"

Yuzu pointed a thumb at Tina. "She just walked past both of us without dropping a single comment."

Karin shrugged. "Maybe she's just out of it."

Yuzu frowned prettily. For a second Karin wished Yuzu was an older or a younger sister instead of being the other Kurosaki twin. _Even if there was a boy I liked, the chances of them liking Yuzu first is so much higher. Perhaps even him- _

"Come on, Karin."

Yuzu looked up to see Hitsugaya with his hand on Karin's table. He nodded to the light-haired girl, then raised an eyebrow at her brunette sister. Sighing outwardly and perhaps just a little tingly inwardly, Karin followed Hitsugaya out of the classroom.

"I thought he was going to ask you out, Tina," said one of her hangers-on.

Tina gave a one-shoulder shrug. "I found someone better. He's older and cuter than the boys in this school."

"Oooh, really?"

"Yeah! Last night, at the pizza parlor, and for some odd reason there was a huge vat of octopus ice-cream that toppled over us both…"

Yuzu shook her head as she listened to the yarn Tina was spinning. It was far too incredible to have happened.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Isshin picked the girls up from school himself that day, which alarmed Karin. "What's wrong, dad?" she asked the moment she saw his bearded face in front of the school.

"Just a little need to see you girls, that's all." He then scratched his jaw. "Actually, I'm going to bring you to a friend's place to stay for a while. I need to go off – emergency call from Kenya – and he's kindly agreed to take you girls in for a week."

Yuzu was doubtful. "Daddy, I can take care of us at home."

"Of course you can, but he's very adamant about making sure you girls don't go hungry or get robbed or anything." Isshin caught sight of Hitsugaya leaving the compound. "Hey, Toushiro-kun!"

"Good afternoon, Kurosaki-san." The captain was exceedingly polite.

"You wanna come along? I can drop you off at a spot convenient to you!"

"It's okay," he said, sharing a quick look with Karin. "I'm meeting with some subor- uh, friends."

Isshin made a downcast face as Hitsugaya walked away. Then he shrugged. "Alright girls, let's go!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yuzu and Karin had their overnight bags with them. They were prepared to stay the night.

What they weren't prepared for was to see Isshin and the shopkeeper Urahara jabbing each other in the gut, and, to both Kurosaki girls' horror, the groin. 

And jabbing with both hands. 

To the point where they were trying to incapacitate each other.

"Dad." Karin had lost her patience eons ago. "DAD!! This is embarrassing! Stop it this instant!"

Both men stopped, hands' poised in mid-jab. Karin saw Yoruichi, in her cat form, shaking her head in the shadows.

"Um, Karin-chan…" Yuzu tugged on her sister's shirt. "Do you feel as if someone is staring at you?"

"No." Then Karin looked about and saw what Yuzu was feeling. She stuck her tongue out surreptitiously at Jinta. The redhead (A/N: sorry, I got it wrong the other time) showed Karin a rude gesture but, as Yuzu looked round to see what Karin was doing, he just as quickly whipped his hand behind his back.

Karin sniggered.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya wondered how he should meet up with his student now that Yuzu was staying at Urahara's as well.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto's breasts hit him in the back of his head before her hands strangled him in a choke hold, also known as her embrace. "Taichou, where have you been?"

"In school." Hitsugaya struggled out of his lieutenant's exuberant hug. "Why?"

"I just saw the cutest dress and this gorgeous black coat in the shop and..." now the strawberry blond looked sheepish, "...and I'm kind of broke. So I was wondering if-"

"No." He walked forward quickly, and held up a hand before she could hug him again. He repeated, "No."

"Oh come _on _taichou" Matsumoto whined. "You never spend any money anyway!"

"And yet." The captain kept walking.

Matsumoto's eyes narrowed. "If you don't lend me money I'm gonna put up a poster of you in front of the division's office building."

"Go ahead-" Hitsugaya's ears caught up with his brain. "Wait – what poster?"

"That's for me to know and for you to guess," chirped Matsumoto brightly. "Moolah, please?"

With a roll of his eyes Hitsugaya tossed his lieutenant a credit card. "Only twenty percent of the charge limit, alright?"

"Yes taichou! Bye!"

"AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT POSTER IS!!" he yelled after her retreating back.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

That there were lots of other people in the house soothed Yuzu. She had been frequenting the store, but usually she interacted mostly with either Ururu or Jinta. At least it wasn't only the weird shopkeeper they were staying with.

Urahara intimidated her. Tessai scared her.

But Karin was oddly familiar with everyone, Yuzu noticed. She didn't say anything about it though; when Karin was ready she'd talk about it herself. Like she had done about her crush on Hitsugaya-san.

So caught up with her thoughts while she was unpacking that she didn't hear the door sliding open.

"Oh. I didn't know someone was... you're the new girl, right? Uh, Karin's sister?"

Yuzu spun around, clutching Bostafu. A tall redhead was there, dressed in a dark brown tee and jeans and holding -

"Yes. Good afternoon." She exchanged bows with the man. Then she saw what he was holding and did a double-take. "Is that a sword?"

He looked at the object in his hand. "Oh, this? No it's just a prop. For a play."

"Wow." Silence draped over the room.

The redhead seemed to feel uncomfortable with no conversation. "Erm... I'm Abarai Renji, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Kurosaki Yuzu." She blushed. "Hi."

Abarai-san was very handsome, she thought quietly. Even though the tattoos gave him an air of fearsomeness and arrogance, Yuzu could see the kindness in his eyes. He reminded her of Ichigo.

The tall man rubbed his ear. "I'll just... get something. I left it in here. I think."

Yuzuz stood aside as he entered. Suddenly the room seemed a lot smaller; Yuzu swallowed, a little concerned that she felt a little giddy.

"Aha!" He held up a silver ring. "Knew I left it here... See you later, Yuzu. Dinner's in an hour, if Tessai is cooking."

Yuzu brightened. "I could help."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin cupped the phone between her shoulder and her ear. Right now she wanted to just slam it down, but she also knew Hitsugaya would be more than pissed.

_He'd roll his eyes, then scowl, and finally stalk over here to demand to teach me some manners._

Yuutsubame chimed in, _It's fun to goad him, isn't it?_

"Are you listening?" Hitsugaya asked on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, I am." Karin winced at Yuu's inopportune interjections. "Meet you after dinner at the park, yes?"

"In shinigami form," he reminded her before hanging up.

Karin stared at the receiver, frowning. Why couldn't he say a proper goodbye anyway?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There was plenty of chatting at the dinner table that evening.

Yuzu, already familiar with Ururu and Jinta, had bonded with Tessai over cooking. Karin was cracking jokes at Renji's expense, Sado was unusually participative with small talk and Urahara presided over the table with the genial air of a country gentleman.

"And now, to everyone here, we have two young ladies moving in for a week while my good friend goes gallivanting in Kenya. So please don't swear, don't leave your cleaning up to others, and please do take care of them. Alright?" Urahara slapped his fan shut. "Okay area cleaning, everyone!"

Karin caught Urahara's tiny nod and went off to the backyard. She popped Soul Candy into her mouth, and pulled herself away from her body.

"Hey."

Karin modified tilted her head. "Yeah."

"Watch over Yuzu. Make sure she's safe, alright?"

"Whatever." The modsoul strolled back into the house, only to be accosted by Ururu.

Shaking her head – whyever did Urahara stick her with a modsoul with a laissez-faire attitude was beyond her.

Speaking of the devil...

"Karin-san," he said softly. "Shall we go?"

"You're coming with me?"

Urahara chuckled. "What, was this meant to be a night-time rendezvous?"

"No!"

"Then my joining you shouldn't be a problem now, should it?"

Karin wished her zanpakuto was strong enough to skewer the hat with the head in it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You sure they're safe with him?" 

Yoruichi shrugged. "He's your friend too, Isshin. You should trust him."

"Yeah," Isshin scratched his head. "But they're my baby girls."

"They ain't babies no more, Isshin. _En garde_," Yoruichi said, her seldom-used blade poised for attack.

Isshin drew his own out of his sheath. Then he lowered his hand. "Yoruichi, are you sure you're not needed in Karin's tuition?"

"She has a captain teaching her, doting daddy," Yoruichi drawled, her sword unwavering. "Now hurry up. You're the only Kurosaki shinigami yet to display his full powers."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya merely nodded curtly in greeting.

Urahara sat down and motioned for the younger two to join him. "I've been analyzing the hollow appearances the past few weeks."

"Why?"

"Because, Karin-san, your dear friend Tina-"

"-not my friend at all thank you-"

"-has been using an altered spell to raise the dead." Urahara paused, his expression settling into the serious lines of a captain. "The original spell was a voodoo derivative, and called up her father's spirit. No repercussions, save for the fact that the poor man's soul ended up being tied to her family home."

"He ended up a hollow?" Hitsugaya asked, suddenly interested.

Urahara snapped his fan open. "As far as my contact could tell, yes. And not just any hollow: a hollow multiple."

Karin screwed her brows together. "I don't get it."

"Every single time Tina called her father up," Urahara began doodling in the air with his now-folded fan, "his spirit would be thinned, for lack of a better word, into a diluted form of himself. And when he turned hollow, that hollow retained the ability to split itself into multiple copies."

"But both Legion and that... fish-like hollow, uh, hollows had multiple images of itself."

"That's right, Hitsugaya-taichou, acute observation as always," the blond nodded. "My hypothesis is this: either Tina's dad, who became a hollow, taught other hollows how to do so, or it was eaten by a few hollows and its abilities absorbed. I'm leaning towards the latter."

"Oh man..." Karin grimaced. "That's lousy. That mean her dad is..."

"Completely gone. Once a soul – plus or hollow – is ingested, that soul is lost. It also explains why, when Tina tried to call her dad up, hollows respond instead," said Hitsugaya briskly. He bit the knuckle on his thumb. "It doesn't explain her reactions though."

Urahara glanced at Karin. "I'll leave our Kurosaki Karin to explain the workings of a young girl's mind. In any event, I've taken away all her spell paraphernalia – including her father's cremated remains – so there shouldn't be any trouble on that front."

As the shopkeeper scooted off, Karin twirled her fingers. Finally she asked, "Patrol?"

Hitsugaya stood and helped her up. "So, what was Tina thinking about when she saw the hollows and us in shinigami outfits?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I don't see why I have to do this," Mizuiro Kojima complained delicately. "You know I prefer older women."

"Yes," Tessai said as he handed details of the date to the young man, "but you are living on credit from Urahara-san, so please assist him this time."

Mizuiro sighed and stuck the folder in his bag. "The things I do for good skincare products."

"Thank you very much, Kojima-san. I hope you have fun on the date of the Harvest festival."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

By the time they reached the river, Hitsugaya was massaging his temples.

"That's insane," he finally managed to say. "I can't believe girls would use such tactics."

"Girls are the dirtiest fighters," Karin stated, as if it was something to be proud of. "I mean, we fight with tooth and nail and hair. Did you expect us to, y'know, be reasonable?"

Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows. "Got it. But girls are still insane."

They slowed to a leisurely stroll. The town was large, and usually a patrol took two hours. Today Hitsugaya and Karin – their second time patrolling together – spent close to three hours, just chatting. 

The moon was rising to its apex.

It felt odd, but good, to just talk.

The topic had started from Tina. Not Karin's favorite theme at any time, so they had moved on to Hitsugaya's childhood in Seireitei, then onto Yuutsubame's over-chattiness ("That's really amazing, how easily you can converse with your zanpakuto. Most shinigami can barely hear a whisper from theirs."), then onto different fighting styles between men and women.

Now Karin stopped, gaze transfixed.

"What's wrong?"

"Here," Karin said, slowly moving down the bank. "This is where my mother died."

Hitsugaya said nothing. What was there to say when someone you were walking with made a statement like this?

"I remember coming here with daddy, seeing Ichi-nii just staring blankly at nothing. Just... just staring. And mom... mom not moving. I remember daddy just screaming for her to wake up, just holding Ichi-nii, just rocking mother... And there was a stench only I could smell... the stench of hollow, now that I come to think about it. If only I or Ichi-nii were shinigami then..."

Karin stood, as still as rock, her memories rushing over her and the captain up on the bank.

"She had the sweetest voice. When she spoke, or sang... it was like nothing would ever go wrong again. I was so young then. We were all so young. And then we all grew up overnight..." her voice drifted into nothingness. 

Hitsugaya waited.

"Ah well. That's all in the past," Karin sighed and clambered up the bank again. She forced a smile. "So. Where shall we head next?"

The white-haired shinigami exhaled. Then he stepped up and, a little awkwardly, gave Karin a hug. "She would be so proud of all of you."

Karin felt the sting of emotion welling up. Her hands came up to Hitsugaya's shoulders and tried to push him away, but he held her firmly.

"Stop it," Karin whispered halfheartedly. "Stop being so damn nice to me. It's eerie."

His embrace tightened. "I'm proud of you too, Karin."

_Oh god._ Karin realized her cheeks were dampening. "Hitsugaya, please. Let go."

He did, but left his hands gripping her shoulders. "You're crying."

"Am not."

"Are too." He dashed a tear from her left cheek. He thought about how to phrase his next query, but decided to be direct. "Did you cry after she died?"

"... no. Not-not even at the funeral... god." Karin shook her head and tried to calm herself. "Stop being so, so, so tender and gentle and, and insightful, Hit-hitsugaya, I just... god. God, I couldn't... I can't. Not now."

Now letting go of her control, Karin buried her face in her hands, feeling the tears of her pain wracking her frame. Hitsugaya tucked her against his shoulder, letting the girl release the storm.

After they heard what Urahara had said about Tina's father, Hitsugaya had seen the dawning realization of her mother's fate in Karin's eyes. That was why he had chosen to engage her in various topics, and that was also why the duo had ended up at the riverbank.

She clung to him, trying to hide her reddened and blotchy face. "She died, and I-I couldn't even... couldn't even tell her how much I love her... How much we all miss her... and daddy tries so _hard_... to be upbeat everyday, so hard, and it hurts to see him... him so lonely... God, if only... b-but that's not possible, not possible, to have the gigai option. I thought, at first... but she's no longer around, is she? Eaten by a hollow... She's gone, just g-gone forever... really, really gone..."

He held her, closing his eyes in sympathy as she sobbed her grief out on his shoulder. He wanted to tell her it was okay, but he didn't.

Hitsugaya Toushiro hated to lie to people he cared about.


	14. Altered Perspective

"I saw her red-rimmed eyes," said Matsumoto quietly when she and Abarai met up with the tenth division captain to take over patrol. "What did you do, taichou?"

"Not now, Matsumoto." Hitsugaya had felt rather guilty, forcing Karin to deal with her loss. But it had to be done. Karin had bottled up everything for too long. He didn't want another...

_Another whom, exactly?_

Hitsugaya sighed heavily and left Abarai and Matsumoto staring in befuddlement at his departing figure.

Abarai was the first to recover his voice. "Matsumoto."

"Hmmm?" 

"Is something bothering him? He looks less annoyed than usual."

"I would say someone is bothering him, but I'll need to dig to find out." Matsumoto's eyes were overcast with concern. And with just a hint of curiosity.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_I cried in front of Hitsugaya. I actually _cried___in front of Hitsugaya!_

Karin's thoughts were running in circles. Her eyes were sore from her tears, but even now it was her heart that was distracting her.

_Can this be any more embarrassing? Oh yeah, I cried into his shoulder and he had to pat me on the back like I was some stupid, pathetic... Urgh! Dumb, dumb, dumb, Karin! I'm a shmucky moron to the tenth degree! Idiot!_

She buried her face into the pillow. Surprisingly Yuutsubame had not said a word.

_Yuu? Why aren't you snarking at me like usual?_

_You've already said everything I meant to say_, said the zanpakuto's spirit._ What else can I add to your litany?_

Karin groaned again. Yuzu was snoozing softly, and Karin wished she could be at home in Ichigo's room, just sitting with her brother and watching him read Shakespeare. Ichigo had a strange habit of mouthing the words that made for an unexpectedly comical recital of the bard's best works.

_To be or not to be..._

There would be that slight scowl, the ferocious intensity, eyes focused on their purpose, the steady breathing, the complete blocking out of the rest of the world...

Yuutsubame interrupted. _Who exactly are you describing now?_

_Ichi-nii, of course._

_Oh. Of __course. ____How stupid of me to think it was a captain you were thinking of in those terms-_

Karin told her zanpakuto to stop sniggering. Then she sat up, completely unable to rest. With a resigned sigh the Kurosaki girl slipped out of her body, went down to the basement, and got started on a training circuit.

"Fifteen laps, twenty sprints, fifteen laps again. Repeat as necessary. I refuse to believe I won't be worn out by then." Karin took a deep breath, then stopped. She peered at her own shinigami outfit, then bit her thumb. The long flowing hakama was impeding her speed...

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Urahara popped down the basement for a dip in the pool, but stopped disrobing when he noticed the lithe figure curled against a rock. He went over and peered into her face. Then he smiled nostalgically.

Karin was sleeping deeply, her breathing even and slow. Urahara saw that she had done some self-tailoring of her shinigami outfit and chuckled. 

It was a good sign: the moment a shinigami alters the basic look, it usually meant they were ascending in strength. No one knew why this was so, but outfit customization was one of the signs of a certain level of reiatsu power. Karin turned over in her sleep, muttering something about her mother and – intriguingly – a white-haired captain.

"You still sleep the way you did when you were a baby, Karin-chan," Urahara murmured and draped his coat over Karin. Then he went upstairs for a quick shower instead.

While rinsing his hair, Urahara grew a little pensive. He missed Masaki too. The woman had limitless patience and unbelievable inner joy that shone through in her every action. 

If it weren't for her, Kurosaki would still be an asshole, a misogynistic captain with a different name back in Seireitei. And Urahara would still be in Karakura, close to the world he loved, never able to reach it.

And Aizen would still try to take over the world. Urahara rubbed the bridge of his nose.

At times like this, the sting of exile was particularly hard.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Hitsugaya woke up he wished he didn't. "Matsumoto, never, _never _sit so damn near to my head again, alright?"

"Wrong side of the bed much, taichou?" Matsumoto raised an eyebrow. "Brought ya breakfast in bed."

"Mmmph." Hitsugaya struggled out of his bedding. "I was hoping to sleep in."

"It's Saturday."

"Kind of my point, Matsumoto."

His lieutenant folded her arms. "Like I'm letting you sleep for long without explaining why Karin ended up with a blotchy face and reddened eyes last night?"

"Matsumoto-"

"Don't 'Matsumoto, shut up' me, alright? Something serious happened and I intend to find out what it is!"

The captain massaged his aching head. "Look, we were talking. She got upset when..." He halted, then restarted. "We went to the place where her mother died."

"O...kay. And that led to her..."

"She finally understood what it meant... what it meant for a hollow to attack a defenseless soul."

Matsumoto fell silent. For a long beat neither said a word.

The lieutenant broke the tableau. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it," replied Hitsugaya. He fell back onto his bed. "And I'm serious, Matsumoto. Let me rest, just for today? I've had the most unbelievable night and I really, really need to sleep."

"Not today, taichou. Today's special."

Hitsugaya groaned. It was impossible to stop his lieutenant when she was in full flow.

Matsumoto chirped, "It's the Harvest Festival tonight! You gotta come along." She frowned at the dozing white-haired captain. "Taichou! What's wrong with you? You were never this tired back in Seireitei even after pulling three all-nighters!"

"I was battling hollows non-stop the few nights before, I've had to deal with a manipulative little vixen wannabe, and last night I had to handle a crying Kurosaki Karin. It's not the physical but the emotional exhaustion." As his brain cleared from fatigue, he caught up with his babbling mouth. "Damn. Matsumoto, I want some really strong tea right now."

"You got it," she smiled and hopped off. "Nice lack of pajamas, by the way."

"Tea, lieutenant." Hitsugaya sat up again and groped for his pants. He did wish she didn't know about his tendencies to be more forthcoming in the morning before his first cup of tea. He also wished he would learn to lock the door, given his tendency to sleep with nothing on – the nights always felt too hot.

But then they had worked together for some years, and they had gone out on missions together prior to this. It was inevitable she knew some of his secrets. But he knew of her secrets too, so it came out all right in the end, he supposed. It wasn't as if she had the audacity to take pictures of him while...

_Wait a minute..._

"MATSUMOTO! THE POSTER!!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yuzu was nearly apoplectic with panic while Urahara and Tessai worked on reviving Karin.

"Why doesn't she wake? What happened? Is she okay?"

Jinta and Ururu tried to calm her down but Yuzu just wanted to barge into the room to see what was happening. Then a large figure interposed himself between the girl and the door. Yuzu looked up into Abarai's serious face.

"Come on, Yuzu, let them work." His large hand was firmly fixed on her shoulder as he steered her away from the little bedroom the two Kurosaki girls shared. Yuzu twisted in vain to get back to her twin but the redhead was adamant in directing Yuzu to the dining area.

Ururu tried hard not to smile when she saw Jinta's face reddening with jealousy. Karin didn't bother to hide her amusement.

She folded her hands behind her head, remaining quiet and out-of sight until Abarai had taken Yuzu away from the scene and smirked, "I guess she really prefers mature men."

"If you had gone back to your body like you were supposed to-" Jinta hissed but ended with a huff. He stalked off, muttering something about freeloaders and shinigami.

Karin tossed off an irreverent salute and went in the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yumichika opened the door to admit a glowering Hitsugaya and a sheepish Matsumoto. "Alright, what is so gosh-darned important that you have to wake me up from my beauty sleep?"

"Well, Yumi-chan-" Matsumoto was interrupted by a sudden outburst at the door.

"Goddess of love, grant me a boon, let this be no dream but if it be a dream let me never wake!" Keigo was dramatically flinging his arms out in prayer to the heavens, then threw a hand before his eyes. "Lo! What light through yonder window shines! What can I do for you, my lovely-"

"Shut up, Keigo," growled Ikkaku, exiting the bedroom, rubbing his neck. When he came up to the other shinigami he stopped. "Early morning visit, huh. What's the trouble?"

"All of you." Hitsugaya paused, then turned to look at Keigo's slumping form against the wall. "Matsumoto, tell me you didn't just knock the boy out."

"I didn't just knock him out." Matsumoto hid her smarting knuckles behind her back.

Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows. Then he shrugged.

"Alright." He returned his attention to the trio of shinigami and drew his sword. Placing Hourinmaru on the table, its glittering point an accusing finger, Hitsugaya sat down and leaned his face on his fist. "And now I want the photos. All of them."

"What photos?" Yumichika wanted to ask, but saw the apologetic half-smile on Matsumoto's face. The pretty fifth seat rolled his eyes and smoothed down his hair uncomfortably. "I- um, I can't give you the photos, taichou."

"Why not?" Hitsugaya inquired politely, but there was a steely glint in his ice-blue eyes. The temperature in the room fell about thirty degrees. Ikkaku swallowed against the surge in chilling reiatsu. Yumichika took a deep breath and squeaked out, "Because they're in Hisagi's office right now."

Matsumoto's eyes goggled. "When did you send them?"

"Why did you send them?" Hitsugaya's voice cut across his lieutenant's question.

"Just... just for safekeeping purposes," Yumichika managed to speak as fast as he could without garbling his message. Then he hid behind Ikkaku when Hitsugaya slammed the table and stood up. 

For a long beat it looked as if the captain was about to roar, but he exhaled heavily, sheathed his sword and swept out of the house. 

The table fell apart, the dish of fruit on its surface crashing to the ground. All three shinigami watched as an apple, in accordance to dramatic principle, rolled out and stopped at the unconscious Keigo's feet.

Ikkaku was the first to recover. "Whoa."

"Is he angry?" Yumichika asked.

"Is he never?" Matsumoto replied. "But I think he's a little more preoccupied with other matters right now than to bother about the photos."

"Yumi," Ikkaku knocked a knuckle on the fifth seat's forehead. "First thing: contact Hisagi, tell him to return that damn manila envelope right the damn hell _now_."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Yuzu saw Karin awake she hugged Karin so tightly the brunette turned a delicate shade of blue.

"Uh, Yuzu-chan, you're suffocating your sister," admonished Urahara gently, tapping Yuzu's head with his ever-present fan. "And so soon after we've revived her."

"Oh! Sorry, Karin-chan," Yuzu let go quickly. Then she took one look at her sister and hugged her again.

Karin scrubbed her hair, feeling awkward. Tessai caught the signal from the blond shopkeeper and said, "Yuzu-san, I need to get the midday meal ready. Could you assist me please?"

"Oh, sure!" Before she left, Yuzu half-smiled at Karin. "You rest well, okay, Karin-chan?"

"Yeah, sure. Go help Tessai," Karin shooed her twin out. Then she thumped down onto the futon again.

Urahara snapped his fan shut. There was an air of anticipation about him, but there was nothing to expect – was there?

"Ururu, could you get Sado-kun and Abarai-san up here please?"

Karin held an open palm out. The shopkeeper looked at the hand like it was an aliean, then shrugged and placed Soul Candy in it. Karin popped one and pulled out of her body.

"What is it, Urahara-san – hey, Karin. New look," said Abarai as he entered. He was all sweaty and hot; Sado was similar covered in a fine sheen of perspiration.

Urahara took off his hat. "Now that we're all here -"

"Shouldn't you wait for me to arrive before you say that?" said Hitsugaya from the window. He entered the room nimbly and sat down in the only empty spot, right opposite Karin. "What's happening?"

"Harvest Festival."

The rest of them waited. Then Karin raised her eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Well, yeah," Urahara said. "Tina's no longer raising hollows _and _she's got a date with the charming and debonair Mizuiro; there's nothing scheduled for tonight, and I believe everyone needs a break. So we're all going to the festival tonight."

"I cannot believe you called me down to tell me this." Hitsugaya stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have a lieutenant and two seated officers to skewer and roast in hell."

Sado raised a finger. "I'll go."

"Why?" Abarai asked. "Shouldn't we be in training?"

"Some of Tokyo's best bassists are performing. I'd like to take a look."

Karin chewed on her lower lip. The white-haired captain was already climbing out the ledge without a second glance backwards. Before any of the other men could say nything, she had gotten up and followed.

"Wow," Abarai said approvingly. "She's gotten really good at shunpo."

"Speaking of wow potential..." Urahara smirked, "You better not get too chummy with Ichigo's little sister."

"What? Ichigo knows where my heart lies. Besides, Rukia likes Yuzu."

Urahara chuckled as he put on his hat again. "Yeah, and so does Jinta."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Wait."

Hitsugaya turned around. Karin was there, fiddling with her hands. "What?"

"Um..." Karin wished the uniform possessed pockets. Maybe she should sew them in... but she sucked at sewing. Thank gods for Ururu this morning...

"Waiting." Hitsugaya didn't fold his arms and he wasn't scowling.

Karin took a deep breath. "Tonight?"

Hitsugaya shook his head. "Busy."

Karin frowned. "With?"

"Work." He folded his arms now.

"Like?"

"Stuff."

"Right." Karin didn't mask her disbelief. 

"Yes." He was annoyed; there was always work for him.

"Really?" Karin was disappointed. Then she furrowed her brows again and raised a finger. "Why are we talking in one-word sentences?"

The captain looked taken aback. "Dunno."

The girl began to laughed. "Stop it already!" She looked at him, trying to control her giggles, then started laughing anew when she saw the irritated hint of a smile lift one corner of his lips.

"Alright, alright." He tried to veil his own amusement but ceded to one, single, brief smile. "What about tonight?"

"Shallwegotothefestival?"

"What?"

Karin breathed slowly before she spoke again. "Shall we go to the festival?"

Hitsugaya rubbed the back of his head. "I really am busy. Got a report to make-"

"You're always busy," said Karin. "That won't change even if you take one night off."

Hitsugaya considered. Then he lifted his shoulders once, a non-committal shrug. "True. But I'd feel guilty."

"Come on," Karin cajoled. "Everyone will be going. It won't be... it won't be as...as fun if you're not there."

"I'll think about it." Hitsugaya turned to leave. Then he paused. "By the way, I like the new look."

"What new- oh." Karin looked down. She had turned the long flowing hakama to shorts so she could run easier, having asked Ururu to help her hem the edges, and then she had asked for the sleeves to be removed too. It was now more form-fitting and a lot easier to move about it. "Uh, thanks."

Hitsugaya didn't bother waving a goodbye.

The brunette girl headed back to the shop, hissing to herself under her breath. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Kurosaki Karin?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx


	15. All Over The Place

"You look perturbed," said Urahara as Karin slouched into her room to get back in her body.

The slim brunette girl tossed a lazy glare at the shopkeeper. "Don't I always?" she asked snidely.

He smiled behind his fan. This was fun – he wished Yoruichi was here to participate. "So you didn't just ask Hitsugaya Toushiro to join us tonight at the fair?"

Karin paused in the middle of folding her bedding. She held her tongue for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I did. We're all going, no point him staying away from that."

"Do you like him, Karin-chan?"

"Wha- what is your problem, Urahara-san? Don't you have something better to do than to pry and pry?" She slammed the futon into the cupboard, completely squashing the hidden Kon without noticing.

He grinned behind his fan again. "At the moment? Nope."

"It's none of your business." She stalked out of the room and down the corridor, evidently to join her sister for lunch.

The blond shopkeeper leaned against the wall. "Ah. Young love."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Taichou?"

Already in his gigai, Hitsugaya paused in the middle of putting on his shoes. "What?"

"You look perturbed."

"No I don't." He grabbed the cell phone and proceeded to the door. "And by the way, make sure I get all the photos."

"Come on, taichou, it was just a bit of harmless fun." Matsumoto pouted.

"I don't think you setting some... paparazzi or paparati or – I don't know what they're called – is appropriate behavior for a seated officer." Hitsugaya scowled darkly. "You do know better, Matsumoto."

"And you need to find the fun in life a little, taichou." The strawberry blond leaned against the wall.

The diminutive captain pulled on his shoes slowly. "What do you mean, find the fun? I'm a captain, I don't have the time for fun."

"That's not true and you know it," Matsumoto said quietly. When he looked directly at her, his anger simmering, she added, "Ever since Hinamori was stabbed by Aizen you've been sinking deeper and deeper into melancholy and depression. You've always been serious, I know that, but you weren't... you weren't dour or depressed. When did you last laugh? Okay, scratch that. That never happens. When did you last _smile, _even?"

"I'm not depressed," countered Hitsugaya defensively. "I laughed... recently. And I smiled... just earlier today." His innate honesty prompted him to clarify, "Alright, not a real full smile, but I did tweak my lips. Into something resembling a smile."

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow in triumph. "See? And you're getting wrinkles from all that frowning. The only cheerful thing you've done since we turned up in the real world was humming."

"I don't- okay, fine, I do hum. But that's to alleviate the stress." Hitsugaya looked away, his lips twisted in a grimace. "I'm busy. We'll talk about this when...well, never ever again."

"You can't shut me up taichou!" Matsumoto scolded as he almost ran out of the apartment. She folded her arms, her impressive cleavage heaving. She wasn't about to let him avoid his own problems.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Abarai Renji was impressed.

He had never seen or heard Sado Yasutora speak so much at one go, but the teenager had not paused at all in the midst of lunch, detailing the various accomplishments of the famous bassists and guitarists who were going to be at the festival. He was unusually animated, Abarai noted, which covered for the disinterest shown on Karin's face.

After lunch, he and Sado were to have an hour's break before returning to training. He took the chance to speak to the slim Kurosaki girl. "Karin, you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You look like crap."

"Gee thanks," she threw him a sarcastic smile, "you're just full of concern today."

"Hey." Abarai planted his hands on his hips. "Your brother insisted that I look after you two, alright? He can't drop by, his training's still in progress."

"You heard from Ichi-nii?" Karin swerved around.

Abarai shrugged. "He called a couple days ago."

"Did you tell Yuzu?" demanded Karin.

Abarai snorted. "Do I look that dumb to you? 'Course I didn't. She's still moping about that, ain't she? But I don't know what _you _are moping about."

"Nothing in particular. Thanks, Abarai. Appreciate the update." Karin strode off, calling for her twin.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yuzu looked at the two dresses laid out on the floor. "Urahara-san, these are beautiful!"

"Try them on," the shopkeeper encouraged. Yuzu picked the lilac dress and dashed into the bathroom to change.

Karin came in to see Urahara sitting cross-legged on the floor. "What are you doing here?"

"My shop, remember? Anyway I brought some dresses for Yuzu to try out. I'd offer one to you, but we both know that'd be a waste of time, no?" He smiled cheerily.

Karin briefly debated grabbing the pale green dress on the bed and put it on, then decided not to be so petty. She went to her trunk and pulled out a cap. "I'm going out."

"Be back before five, Karin-chan. We're all leaving at six after an early dinner."

"Alright." 

Before Karin could leave, Yuzu emerged, a petite and pretty vision in lilac. Kari felt a small twinge of envy but suppressed it. Yuzu was the one who inherited their mother's looks and heart. Karin had other things going for her. 

She wished she believed that.

Yuzu saw Karin getting ready to head out and ran up to her twin. "You sure you can go out? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm fine, Yuzu. I just wanna head down to the field, see my friends. You want to join me?"

"Tessai-san asked me if I wanted to learn how to bake souffles, so I'll be here the entire day." Yuzu gazed worriedly. "Just... if you're not feeling well, don't play, alright?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. Have fun."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was a fine, lazy Saturday afternoon.

Birds were twittering, butterflies flitting, and the boys were kicking a soccer ball around.

Karin strolled up to the pitch. "Hey guys!"

They looked over, saw it was Karin, and then as one turned away and dribbled down the field. The girl was left standing alone and ignored. She considered calling them again, but just sighed and sat heavily on the grass.

It was her fault, she supposed. After Hitsugaya had appeared in school she had barely spoken three sentences to her old gang. No doubt they thought she had abandoned them for the new guy. The new guy who was cool, handsome and smart, all things that they weren't.

"Hey."

_Speak of the devil. _Karin looked behind her. Hitsugaya was standing two paces away, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"Hey." she went back to observing the soccer game that was being played without her. "I thought you were going to be busy."

"Delegated." He sat down beside her. She pointedly moved further by two and a half feet. He ignored it. "What time is Urahara gathering everyone?"

"Five o'clock for dinner, six to leave." Karin cursed inwardly at a fumbled pass. "You're not changing?"

"What's wrong with the clothes I'm wearing?"

"Nothing." She sneaked another glance. The captain wore a black shirt and dark jeans, accentuated with a leather cuff as a statement. He looked like a pop idol, except he was a kid. 

Karin ran her wardrobe through her mind and settled on a simple black long-sleeved and black skinny jeans combo. Match that with a simple silver cross from her dad and the combat boots her brother got her for her birthday and it would be perfect.

They watched the match until it was four-thirty before heading back to the shop. Along the way Karin managed to get Hitsugaya to teach her the tune he whistled frequently, although he still refused to 'recall' the lyrics.

"I bet you remember," Karin said as they stepped through the doors to Urahara's general store. "You're just afraid I'll ask you to sing."

"I'm afraid of nothing, kid. I don't remember, that's all."

"Ha."

Urahara appeared in the doorway suddenly. "Welcome, Hitsugaya-taichou! Matsumoto's already here and waiting!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya hated to admit it was fun, but it _was _a relief to let go of the burdens he had been feeling. All around him the sounds of humanity roared and ebbed like tides, and more than once he caught sight of pluses wandering around intermingled with humans.

"After the festival we'll need to put in some overtime," he told Ikkaku loudly over the din. The third seat was suffering gallantly as Yumichika squealed and bought tons of candy and accessories. Abarai, Tessai, and Matsumoto had already been led away by Sado to the stage, where a live rock band was pounding out some strong beats that thundered across the festival.

"No prob, taichou," Ikkaku yelled in reply. Before he could converse further Yumichika hauled him away to purchase more things 'that will brighten up my room in Seireitei'.

"What is that noise?!" he mouthed at Karin and Urahara.

She yelled, "It's music!"

"I know music! Music has notes! This-" he gestured at the stage not fifty metres from them "-is noise!"

Urahara merely shrugged, eying a leggy lass as she sashayed past him in a too-short skirt and sweater.

Yuzu tugged on Karin's arm and spoke in her ear. "Ururu asks if I can accompany her to the games stall. I think she wants to try the shooting gallery. You want to come along?"

Karin glanced at Ururu and especially at Jinta who was nearby, beet red. "Nah, I'm thirsty. Hey, Jinta, take care of them both, alright? Urahara-san, Hitsugaya and I are going to the ice stall!"

Jinta's eyes narrowed, as if suspecting a trick. But at Karin's smirk he puffed his chest out and grinned, following the two girls to the games booths. Karin suspected that they were going to need more shelf space for soft toys after tonight.

Urahara spotted another lean, lithe form not too far away. "Uh, I'm gonna have to leave you two for a bit," he said with a barely-concealed smile. Karin tried to crane her neck to see who he saw, but there were too many people in the way. Urahara didn't wait for them to respond before disappearing into the crowd.

Now it was just Hitsugaya and her. And perhaps a few hundred people milling about them.

"So," she turned to him with forced casualness. "Where shall we go?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Tina felt as if electricity was running through her veins. He was so cute, all large eyes and soft smile, and when he spoke he was exceedingly polite and gentle.

If she didn't watch herself she might fall in love with this high school boy.

Mizuiro led her around the dance floor again, inwardly cursing Urahara for sticking him with an unpalatable assignment. The girl was sweet enough, but he still liked older girls.

At least it was only for one evening.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Near the temple it was quieter.

Almost carelessly Hitsugaya pulled out of his gigai and performed a few soul burials.

Karin sighed. "Can't you just take a break for once?"

"Not in my operating system," he said as he returned to his gigai.

"You joked again." She was compelled to note the inane; otherwise she'd be gawking at the almost-smile on that perpetually annoyed face, the play of shadows over his pale features, the blaze his white hair made against the night...

"I do that on rare occasions." He watched the crowd that were mobbing the stage and the stalls. "Why are humans so noisy?"

"Noise drives fear away," said Karin without thinking. Then she pondered over her answer. "And noise makes people feel... alive."

"But silence is when you're most aware of yourself," commented the captain.

Karin shrugged. "Not everyone wants to know themselves that well."

"True." He linked his fingers together. "But it is necessary for-"

"Taichou!" Matsumoto's cheerful voice rushed out of nowhere. In an instant the white-haired shinigami was enveloped in a huge hug. "Oh! Karin-chan, you're here too! I'm sorry I didn't see you, you're camouflaged in black... did I interrupt a rendezvous?"

"You sure didn't," said Karin quickly when Hitsugaya was slow in responding. "What's up?"

"Sado and Abarai decided to go backstage to meet the musicians. There aren't any hunks there so I decided to hunt taichou down, and, well, to tell you that your dad is back."

"He's back?" Karin leaped to her feet and ran into the crowd. Both tenth division officers raised their brows in surprise.

Matsumoto's question shook Hitsugaya out of his thoughts. "How is she supposed to find him in the crowd?"

He merely shrugged and continued to sit.

His lieutenant sat down as well, making herself comfortable on the stone seat. "I'm sorry to have interrupted."

"It's okay. We weren't talking about anything important." He rubbed the back of his skull. "Matsumoto, why did you want to take photos of me and Karin?"

"For fun. Nothing much else, actually." She peeked at him under half-lidded eyes, knowing that he knows she wasn't telling the truth.

He waited.

She waited some more.

He raised both eyebrows at her.

She sighed and caved. "I thought you two looked good together. And it would be nice for you to have a young friend."

"That's it?" Hitsugaya said. He had believed there would be some complicated reason behind it all.

"That's it."

"And you wanted to print a poster and put it at the division office?"

Matsumoto grinned like a Cheshire cat. "It was just a threat, taichou. Relax. Hinamori-san won't see it."

He glared at her, but she could tell his heart wasn't in it. She leaned over, as if privy to a secret. "So who do you prefer, taichou? Hinamori or Karin?"

"Wha- I don't think that's pertinent, is it?"

"You're blushing."

He scowled fiercely. "It's the heat," he temporized. "Why are you asking anyway?"

"Well," she drawled, "in the few weeks we've been here you've been by Karin's side almost everyday. When you're training her you actually smile now and then. And you hummed quite a few times-"

"-that's displacement activity from the stress of my work-"

"-and the most important thing, which no one else has figured out."

Hitsugaya wished he had the presence of mind to ignore Matsumoto and just walk away, but now he wanted to hear her perspective. He didn't ask though.

She chose to switch the subject. "When you're with Hinamori, you seem happy too, but you never seem to be close to her. I don't think you confide in her for anything. Do you? Don't glare, I'm just commenting here. And ever since that whole Aizen thing you've been worried about her, but nothing more."

He got up, impatient with himself. "I'm going to find Urahara and Madarame."

She pulled him down. "I've just started the analysis." He didn't want to cause a scene, so he plopped back onto the seat. She went on. "I think you like Hinamori only as a sister."

"I never said -" protested the white haired captain.

"Oh hush. I know the whole of Seireitei thinks you like her, yourself included. But I think the better match for you is Karin, young though she may be."

He shut his eyes and buried his face in his hands, exasperated. Once again he was reminded how difficult it was to shut Matsumoto up once she got going.

The buxomy lieutenant pondered aloud. "Let's see... she's cynical, but too cynical, which balances you out nicely. She's good with her shinigami skills, and her zanpakuto is water-based, which complements yours. She also exhibits signs of liking you, which I'm not surprised by; you're probably the only boy to pay exclusive attention to her. And... drum roll please..."

"MATSUMOTO!!" A loud roar cut her off.

Hitsugaya had never been more relieved to hear Abarai's voice calling out to them. He practically sprinted up and patted the sixth division lieutenant on the hand. "Thanks, Abarai."

Sado and Abarai watched Hitsugaya flee into the crowd to find Urahara and the others. Abarai turned to Matsumoto. "What's with him?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_The nerve of Matsumoto. _Fuming, Hitsugaya stalked through the crowd, not paying heed to his direction. He turned left, then right again. _Who does she think she is?_

"Hey! Watch it moron!"

"I apologise." The captain looked up and then did a double take. "Uh... Tina, right?"

"Tina, right. Watch where you're going, Hitsugaya. You nearly made me spill my drink on Mizuiro-kun." She directed a deadly glare at her one-time target.

"Sorry about that." Hitsugaya inclined his head and moved around them, leaving Tina to fawn over her captive. He caught sight of the teenager's bored face and smothered his amusement. Thank all the gods he was not her date.

And what did Matsumoto mean that there's something no one has figured out?

_Great. Now that's going to plague my thoughts for the entire night._


	16. Are You Certain?

"Wildflowers ramble 'cross the verdant glade, beneath the golden sun..." Hitsugaya sang under his breath as he hacked the hollow into pieces. The hollow had the great fortune to come across the small-sized captain while he was fuming over Matsumoto's comments, all alone in a small park away from the festivities.

"...and the autumn winds come without mercy..." 

He was very glad no one else was there. Sometimes all the companionship got on his nerves.

He loved Hinamori. Always did. He had missed her terribly when she enrolled in the Academy, even if he never admitted it to her. 

And one reason why he tolerated Matsumoto's slacker-attitude was because she used her influence with Ichimaru to enroll him in the Academy even though he was far too young. He had had to pass inspection with the old man, of course, but still, he owed his lieutenant.

This was about Hinamori, he reminded himself. He had volunteered to come on this reconnaissance mission because he couldn't bear not doing anything. He wanted to help her, but she was beyond his help while she was hooked up to the tubes and machines and whatnot... but he could assist in finding out more about the traitors.

He loved Hinamori. He really did. He always did.

"...wildflowers in summertime fade like shadows, they fade like shadows fleeing the light..." Hitsugaya hated to sing. It meant he was under tremendous stress. And he hated to show he was under tremendous stress. 

Thing was, what was he stressed about?

Not Hinamori, although her progress was still erratic. Unohana had her well taken care of. Hinamori was fine. She might not be completely sane yet, but she was fine.

He thought further. Then the name came to him, and he sighed and sat on a park bench. 

_Kurosaki Karin._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Daddy!" Karin squealed uncharacteristically. Her father looked tanned and healthy. That was great.

"Karin-chan!" He embraced her tightly. Then pulled away. "Wait... you're an imposter."

Karin was confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"The real Karin wouldn't hug me like this." He was still embracing her though. "You must be an impos-"

Irritated and relieved, Karin detached herself and smacked her father across the arm – hard. Isshin grinned. "That's my girl!"

Then he broke into a wider smile when he saw two towers weaving their way through the crowd.

One tower was balanced by Jinta. It was as tall as Sado.

The other was balanced by Ururu. It was taller than Sado.

Both were led by Yuzu who launched herself at her father. Delighted they spun, sending half of Jinta's precarious stack flying. 

Urahara, who was right behind Isshin, managed to grab hold of a toy rabbit and a turtle, and Yoruichi beside the shopkeeper caught an odd blob-like shape and a teddy bear. Both of them looked gloriously flushed in the fluorescent lighting from the stalls, and Urahara's hair appeared a little mussed.

"So," he said, a little breathlessly, "are we all here?"

"Sado-san's still at backstage," Tessai reported, placing a small _L_ plushie on top of Jinta's trophies. "Matsumoto-san said she was looking for Hitsugaya-t... uh, Hitsugaya-san, and Abarai-san went looking for her."

"Talking about us?" asked Matsumoto cheerily as she and Abarai appeared arm-in-arm. "Where's tai... uh, Hitsugaya-kun?"

The group exchanged shrugs and raised eyebrows. Karin wondered where the white-haired captain had disappeared to – he was missing out on Sado's performance, according to Abarai, since the tall teenager had been roped in to stand in for a sick bass player.

Also, she wondered why Yuzu looked a little downcast... was she concerned about Hitsugaya too?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He sat, his arms slung over the back of the bench. He had to clear his head – he was supposed to be focused on retrieving information for Seireitei, not train a chit of a girl. She was not important in the big scheme of things.

_And yet..._

Karin's confident approach to the difficulties in her life had been a breath of fresh air. After watching the shinigami about him either sink into moroseness or divert themselves with work (much like he himself was doing), it was encouraging to see someone who was willing to solve her own problems, and who was not afraid to ask for help.

She might have had to deal with the issues of grief and loss much later than the actual event, but even then Karin demonstrated strength of character. Faced with the horrible truth, she did not shirk, did not deny, but took as much of it in as she could – even if she had to cry again.

He saw, from the start, the way she carried herself. Without a whiff of arrogance or swagger, but confident and collected. And when she asked to know more about him, he hadn't rejected her questions outright.

_Why didn't you?_

"Hourinmaru?"

_Yes. Why did you converse so extensively with the little girl?_

"I don't know." Hitsugaya chewed on his lower lip. "She's easy to talk with, I guess. Much easier than the rest of Seireitei."

_Because she doesn't fear you?_

Hitsugaya snorted. "The kid fears no one."

_She does – she's afraid of terrible fates befalling her brother. She's afraid she can't protect her family despite having this power in her. She's afraid you might think lowly of her._

The captain shook his head, bemused. "How do you know all this, Hourinmaru?"

_I listen_, said his zanpakuto. _She talks a lot with her sword, Yuutsubame. The fishman is annoying._

Hitsugaya filed the nuggets of information away. It certainly clarified some things, but it still hadn't answered his own curiosity.

What did Matsumoto mean when she said there was something no one else figured out?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

In the press of bodies Karin found it easy to slip away.

Not that her escape was unnoticed by the others, of course; only Yuzu and Jinta hadn't realized. But one quick shake of Urahara's head stopped all others from following her.

The shopkeeper had a pretty good idea where the girl was heading.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So there you are."

Hitsugaya looked up. Karin was there, hands planted on her slim hips. The black long-sleeved sweater looked good on her – Karin appeared more mature and less boyish, especially with the large but simple silver cross hanging around her neck.

"Hey. You're missing the fun." She walked up to him. "You're also missing Sado's playing. He's great too, for someone going in cold."

"Then he should wear a jacket."

"You're not joking, are you?" Karin narrowed her dark eyes. Hitsugaya matched her frown. She sighed. "I meant he hasn't practiced with them before."

"Oh."

Seeing that the captain wasn't intending to get up, Karin sat down. It was the second time they were sitting together that night, but somehow Hitsugaya felt incredibly uncomfortable.

"Uh... Karin, there's something we have to discuss."

Karin gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Sure."

"I won't be here for long, you understand." Hitsugaya could have kicked himself for that opening, but it felt easier to talk about work.

Karin settled again. What had she been hoping for? "I get that. What about it?"

"Well... when we're gone, don't move about in your shinigami form. In fact, don't appear in shinigami form at all if possible."

"But the pluses-"

"-are taken care of by official shinigami." Hitsugaya knew she liked to argue and thus sought to preempt any possible disagreements. "I don't want Seireitei to know of your existence."

Karin sighed and looked away. She felt she understood his reasoning, but she didn't like it. "Then you shouldn't have taught me how to be a shinigami."

"Substitute shinigami. Like your brother. Except Ichigo is official," Hitsugaya reminded her.

"Then make me official."

"It's not that simple."

"Then make it that simple!"

"Stop acting like a kid and try to understand, will you?" Hitsugaya startled them both by raising his voice. "The more you are under Seireitei's scrutiny, the more likely you'll be targeted by Aizen and his subordinates!"

Silence blanketed them both. 

Finally Karin said, "The traitors will be interested in me because I'm a substitute shinigami?"

"No." Hitsugaya had to make her comprehend the severity of the issue. "They will be interested because you're a substitute shinigami AND a Kurosaki. You're not stupid, Karin. Don't act like a dumb kid, alright? I've told you before: this is a war we're fighting."

"Fine. Tell you what. Go back to your Soul Society or Seireitei, whatever, come back in a few decades. I'll have stopped being a dumb kid by then." Karin folded her arms across her chest. 

Hitsugaya turned away, not sure how to bridge the chilly silence. 

She glared into the middle distance, not willing to acknowledge the importance of his words.

After a prickly ten minutes they got up. Hitsugaya looked at Karin, surprised. She was also frowning at him. They tore their gaze away, before speaking at the same time.

"Listen, I didn't mean to imply that-" "I understand where you're coming from-"

The captain looked at the girl. For one beat neither said anything. Then they both exhaled.

Karin went first. "I understand. I really do. It's just – I don't like it when you come across all superior. You need to have fun."

"I didn't mean that you were immature," explained Hitsugaya in turn. "You needed to know how bad this could all turn out. And that's why I don't _have _time for fun."

"Maybe you don't need to be thinking about that all the time," retorted Karin. The dark-haired girl waved her hands around expansively. "We can relax and be kids – well, me anyway – without losing sight of the big picture." When Hitsugaya appeared reluctant, Karin rolled her eyes and half-smiled. "Just for tonight? Forget you're a captain or a shinigami. Just be a kid."

He sighed and placed his hands in his pockets. "Fine. Tonight."

Somewhat reconciled, the two black-clad shinigami – one captain, one substitute – strolled back to the Harvest Festival.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Matsumoto's grin grew wilier as she sensed her captain returning with Karin. Nudging Kurosaki Isshin, she made a 'pay-up' gesture.

Rolling his eyes, Isshin stuffed a handful of bills into Matsumoto's hand.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Y'know, I'm thinking we should blow off training tomorrow," remarked Karin nonchalantly.

Hitsugaya gave her a stern glance from the corner of his eye. "You're still very raw in your attack techniques."

"But we'll all be tired and frankly, I'd rather play soccer tomorrow."

Hitsugaya scowled, though not fiercely. He'd seen her wistful expression that afternoon, while her friends were kicking a ball around. He had never seen the point of the sport, but then, sports were pretty much pointless.

"How about shinigami soccer? Shunpo and zanpakuto allowed."

Karin looked at him incredulously. "You want me to get killed? Zanpakuto allowed?"

"Alright, not the best idea I've had in weeks," he admitted, "but shunpo with soccer should be fun."

"Hmm..." Karin mulled the idea over. "We'll bar Yoruichi-sensei though. She can be referee."

"So it's five a side... let's say Jinta, Abarai, Madarame, Ururu and Ayasegawa on one team..."

"Whoa, you plan on putting all three big guns together on the opposing team?"

"Well, they aren't as fast as you. Or me, for that matter... So you, me, Sado, Matsumoto and Tessai... I wonder if we can get Urahara to play too, it'd be a great chance to observe him in action."

"Can you please get your mind off work?"

"I'm supposed to be working. That's why I'm here."

"...Be a kid tonight, remember?"

"Oh... yeah..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They talked soccer rules and team distribution until they found the rest of the group waiting at a snack food stand. 

Matsumoto was trying not to look too triumphant, Urahara and Yoruichi were definitely concealing huge grins, Yuzu gave a discreet thumbs-up and the others pretended not to notice.

As the gang filed away, Urahara whispered into Isshin's ear, "They make a cute pair."

"Yeah. And if he tries anything funny I'll cut his hands off," replied Isshin, a lot less jovially.

Urahara and Yoruichi sniggered while the doting daddy glowered at the white-haired captain, who was still chatting to Karin. 

_If looks could kill..._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Abarai stretched lazily and waved to the two girls following their father back to their house. "Finally! I get a room to myself again!"

"You sure you don't want to share with me?" teased Matsumoto.

"Rukia would freeze my ass. No thank you."

Abarai, Madarame and Ayasegawa had peeled away earlier to go to a pub, and only Hitsugaya's forbidding glare had stopped Matsumoto from joining them.

"What is it, taichou?" the buxom one asked while they made their way back to Orihime's place.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "You know what. Now spill."

"My boobies?" At the daggers shot from her captain's eyes she held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay... you're no fun, taichou."

"I'm Hitsugaya Toushiro, have you met me? I'm not known to have fun."

Matsumoto ignored his words. She asked, "Taichou, how do you address Hinamori Momo?"

"Hinamori, of course."

"And how do you address Kurosaki Karin?"

"Karin. Why are you asking me these questions when you know the answer?" Hitsugaya was frustrated. Why couldn't she just get to the point?

"And how does Hinamori address you?" she continued her barrage of questions.

The white-haired shinigami was tempted to forget about it, but Matsumoto grabbed his arm. "How does Hinamori address you, taichou?"

"Toushiro, but she's supposed to call me Hitsugaya-taichou."

"Why?"

Hitsugaya was flabbergasted. "I've earned the title, Matsumoto. The least she can do is respect it. The only one who's calling me by my name is Ukitake-taichou, and that's because _he's _earned it."

"But Karin calls you Hitsugaya without any suffix."

"That's because-" Hitsugaya braked mid-sentence. He tried again. "She's... she's not a shinigami."

Matsumoto raised a perfectly painted finger. "Ichigo isn't a shinigami either, and yet you insist on his calling you Hitsugaya-taichou."

"He's just a kid! He has to show respect."

"And there you have it."

"What? Have what?" Hitsugaya frowned, more confused than ever.

She merely shrugged eloquently and sauntered off ahead. Matsumoto's calm little smile infuriated Hitsugaya more than the incessant questioning earlier, but to his rising ire he couldn't form a coherent rebuttal.

_Damn it. Damn, damn, damn._


	17. Shunpo Soccer

_A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed! Much appreciated. The shunpo soccer episode... won't be long :)_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Abarai was all for the idea. He was getting sick of the basement.

Madarame liked it. It was similar enough to combat without actually fighting, and he enjoyed the few games he had seen.

Ayasegawa hated the notion initially, because he remembered that he disliked the uniforms, but one look at Karin's Christiano Ronaldo poster and he was raring to go.

Tessai was alright with it because he wanted to keep an eye on Ururu and Jinta.

Yoruichi sulked because she wasn't allowed to play.

Urahara had hemmed and hawed before deciding to join in the fun.

Matsumoto had bowed out, because she felt her breasts would impede her running speed and argued that the windswept look wasn't for everybody.

Sado agreed after realizing his sparring partner was playing truant from training. But since his forte wasn't in shunpo, he took on the role of goalkeeper.

Hitsugaya and Karin then decided they should take different sides. It was more interesting that way. Plus, someone on each team had to know the rules.

So the teams were decided: Abarai, Karin, Ayasegawa, Sado and Madarame on one side, Urahara, Ururu, Tessai, Jinta and Hitsugaya on the other.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"This way, you bloody idiot!" yelled Abarai, running on her left.

"Shut up!" Karin dribbled and dodged a tackle from Jinta. The boy had some serious antagonism towards her. "Ayasegawa!"

The slim shinigami caught the pass and ran down the field, neatly avoiding the ferocious tackle from Ururu. Ayasegawa had had to remove his feathers, and he was feeling rather pissed off about it. Ururu and Karin had both ran up to the goal, and just when Ururu was about to try another tackle-

"Dammit!" Abarai swore under his breath when he noticed the white streak that flashed between the two girls. He was competent in shunpo, but out of the five on their team only Karin could catch up to him. "Ikkaku! Get ready! Sado! Can you see him?"

Karin sprinted and cut across Hitsugaya's path, stealing the ball from him and bringing it back to bear on Tessai, the opposing team's goalkeeper. As she drew her foot back to send it into the net, Hitsugaya was already in front of her.

Matsumoto slurped on her iced tea. "It's like their having own game, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Yoruichi, slouching over at the bench. "Oh, no, look, Abarai's trying to get the- ooh, that's gotta hurt."

"I'll say."

Sado crouched over and prepared himself. A steely-eyed captain was tearing down the pitch...

"GOAL!!" Matsumoto screamed and cheered. "Way to go, taichou!"

Abarai, Ayasegawa and Karin exchanged glances while Jinta and Ururu celebrated. Abarai, their designated captain, nodded at Ikkaku. Karin smiled humorlessly.

_All's fair in love and war... and football._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"That was a foul and you know it!" Jinta argued at Yoruichi's decision to let the game continue. "He tackled our goalkeeper and wrestled him to the ground!"

"But Tessai isn't injured, and the ball was in the vicinity, and _I'm the damned referee so __**shut up**_!" Yoruichi stretched lazily. She went back to her packed lunch.

Jinta was incredulous, but was firmly directed away by the his team captain Urahara. "Yoruichi, at least _look _at the game while refereeing?"

"I'm hungry." She ignored him and continued munching. "Keep playing."

Smirking, Karin exchanged a low five with Ikkaku.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya smashed in another goal, after a throw-in from Urahara. Karin fumed because Jinta had tripped her deliberately while Ayasegawa was blocking Yoruichi's view. The two discussed for a minute with their captain, and Abarai suggested a double-team.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin and Ayasegawa paired up and dribbled past the youngest captain in a flurry of passes. Hitsugaya was fine with that, except he really disliked the impromptu victory dance Madarame and Abarai put up in celebration when Tessai failed to stop the goal.

"It's just so immature," he said in an undertone to Urahara, who was silently laughing at Madarame's toe-wriggle moves.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sado missed catching Ururu's shot. Now they had a hole in the net because Ururu fired it in with too much power.

"I'm sorry," she said sheepishly before running back up the field. Karin passed the ball to Abarai and the redhead returned the favor with a roar.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Urahara tapped in one goal, but was challenged for a foul because he had used killing intent to make almost everyone – his own team included – fall to their knees in cold sweat

Yoruichi ceded the foul, and everyone gave Urahara a kick on the shin after Ayasegawa kicked the ball in.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya nailed another goal in. He dodged the impromptu celebratory hug from his teammates and ran back to his place on the field.

Urahara shrugged. The white-haired captain was too uptight for his own good. "Was I ever like this when I was a captain, Tessai?"

"No," he replied loyally.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

At the end of the game the score was tied five-five. Karin flopped down next to Yoruichi, tired, sweaty, and happy. "I haven't had this much fun since... I dunno when. I love soccer!" she howled at the darkening sky.

Abarai laughed. "Kurosaki Karin, I believe you're high."

"That I am," she said in all seriousness. "After all, I'm just a kid."

"Not _just _a kid," Hitsugaya interjected coolly.

Everyone exchanged raised eyebrows and meaningful half-smiles, but Karin merely grinned. "No I'm not. I'm also a shinigami, like you."

"Not like me at all, dolt," he said, without the usual bite.

Matsumoto hid her smile, but couldn't resist whispering something into Yoruichi's ear. The sleek dark-haired woman snorted but glanced away when both snowy-haired captain and brunette preteen looked over at her.

"Just something caught in my throat," she said hastily. "Ahemm-hrmm."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yumichika skipped along beside Ikkaku. "I thought that was fun," he said cheerfully.

"Yeah, I think we should introduce soccer to Seireitei," said Ikkaku, strolling. 

"Not the game silly," said Yumichika, "Hitsugaya-taichou and Karin."

"Eh...what?"

"Did you even sense the whole sparkage that was going on? Man it's better than what Rangiku and I had believed!"

Ikkaku shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about, Yumi. Hitsugaya-taichou likes Hinamori, we know that."

"No he doesn't, not that way," argued the silky-haired shinigami. "I've seen them together, and she thinks of him as a younger brother. Karin treats him as an equal, and that's important in any relationship."

"Like ours?"

Yumichika laughed as Ikkaku offered an arm for him to slip through. "They really should go out sometime soon."

"Yeah, they should." Ikkaku was nodding and then he suggested, "Shall we assist?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Matsumoto, just because I allow her to call me by my surname without a suffix doesn't mean I like her more than anyone else." Hitsugaya ran the line through his head and realized it sounded stupid. He tried again. "I think Karin doesn't need to address me as formally as the others because I'm not working with her in any official capacity."

_Sounds better. _He breathed out. Then he frowned. Why did he need to justify himself anyway?

_Because you know you're hedging._

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. Sometimes his own sword could sound patronizing even to himself.

"You wanted to see me, taichou?"

"About your surmise the other night," began Hitsugaya, but he was cut off mid-speech.

"I'm completely right and you know it, taichou. Everyone else has noticed it, and you'll lay some ghosts to rest if you'd just admit that Karin is someone special to you." She planted her hands on her hips, formidable bosom heaving with righteous indignation. "I can't believe the girl is more gracious than you about this matter!"

"What?" Completely derailed in his train of thought, Hitsugaya tried to figure out his lieutenant's words.

Matsumoto ran her hand through her mane and shook it out. "Karin knows she likes you. She's not hiding it, but neither is she acting all weird about not hiding it. In this case, taichou, I'm gonna have to say: grow up."

He sputtered indignantly; she flounced out of the room with a cheery greeting for Madarame and Ayasegawa who had turned up early.

With an exasperated groan he grabbed his sword and followed the trio.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Madarame frowned. 

Fed up with the two useless shinigami trying to converse with their swords, Hitsugaya looked over. "What is it?"

"Nothing," the bald one said, although Hitsugaya remained alert. Madarame didn't like to raise false alarms, but if something had impinged on his senses that might be a danger signal. Privately he believed Madarame was at captain level; he radiated power. Yet, since the man was content to work for Zaraki, Hitsugaya saw no reason to inform the soutaichou of his suspicion.

Then he felt it: a rasping across his senses. "Arrancar?"

"Dearie dearie me, we're rather lucky, ain't we? Finding a buncha shinigami immediately," said an effeminate arrancar. They exchanged a few more words among themselves, too far for any of the shinigami to hear, but then again they weren't listening. Then a blue-haired arrancar dashed away, and Hitsugaya wondered why that was.

He pulled out of his gigai and attacked the largest one of all. "Hitsugaya Toushiro, captain of the Tenth Division."

"Yammi, number ten." The arrancar smiled ferociously.

"Number ten... Espada?"

"You know your stuff," the Espada mocked. "You musta fought someone with a big mouth."

They exchanged a flurry of blows, but the effeminate one – Luppi – took over the battle... and things turned rapidly downhill.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya groaned as he sat up. Ice shards were scattered about him, the bits of his wings and from Hourinmaru evidence of Luppi's strength.

"What the hell is he?" asked someone behind him. 

Hitsugaya turned. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous!"

"I was supposed to meet you here, Ikkaku said. Who is that guy, uh, girl, uh... it?"

Hitsugaya shushed her and pulled them both into the relative shelter of trees. "Espada. You can't fight him."

"Neither can you, apparently. He just tossed you aside like so much spaghetti!"

"Huh?"

Karin sighed. "You're definitely out of it if you're trying to understand my references. Look, I want to help."

"Then get out of here," he urged. "I can't watch over you while rescuing them."

"I can help," she insisted. Before Hitsugaya could brush her off, Karin had pulled herself out of her body. "Look. We both know i'm no match for him. But you need something I can give, and I suggest you better get ready to catch that wave."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. He understood what she was saying, but the protective instinct was strong. Finally he gave in. "Once you're done, scoot. As fast as possible. I don't want any of them to even catch a hint of you having been here, okay?"

"Be careful." The worried look in her dark eyes made Hitsugaya almost smile.

"I'm Hitsugaya Toushiro, have you met me? I'm nothing but careful."

Karin grinned and stood. "Ready or not, here we go. _Gekido, Yuutsubame!"_

Riding that first surge of water Hitsugaya called on his sword's power. _Come on, Hourinmaru. Let's show that bastard arrancar what a shinigami can do._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin watched and swallowed nervously. She attributed that as the reason she jumped when a large hand fell on her shoulder.

"Urahara-san! Yoruichi-sensei!" she yelped, albeit quietly.

Urahara looked grave and very unhappy about Karin being there. "Bring her home, Yoruichi."

"Will do. Come on, you can't help here. Watch over your family instead." The two brunettes flash-stepped away.

Karin couldn't help one last, over-the-shoulder look at the shinigami engaged in battle in the sky. _He'd better come through this fine._

_He will, girl. Relax. He's a captain, what could possibly happen to him? Wait... I can think of some really horrible things happening to him._

_Sometimes, Yuu, I'd really prefer it if you didn't talk._

_Fine, fine..._

Karin worried all the way home.


	18. The End For Now

**A/N: This is the final chapter.**

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Oh no, not now," Karin sighed. A hollow was lurking near the corner of her block. She drew her sword.

_Come on Yuu, got some undead booty to kick._

_Wait. _Her sword glittered in her hand. _The dragon's aura is fading._

_What?_ Before Karin could refocus the hollow sprinted at her with its mouth wide open. Its teeth snapped at her and she dodged, only to have the hollow chomp on her left leg.

Karin shouted in pain, then stabbed Yuutsubame into the hollow's mask. It dissipated, but the pain in her calf remained. It throbbed and Karin cursed under her breath.

_Yuu, what the hell are you talking about?_

_The dragon has fallen. I can't sense it._

_Oh no, no no no..._ Karin looked at the house. Her body, with the artificial soul manipulating it, was watching from the house. "Hey! Take care of my family for me!" she yelled. "I gotta be elsewhere for a bit!"

She watched her body wave an okay sign, then she limped upright. Somehow she would make it there.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Hitsugaya waved off Urahara's ministrations. "It was just a fall. Take care of the others."

Karin skidded to a stop. She was panting. Her calf was still bleeding, although most of it had caked. "You're alright," she wheezed.

Hitsugaya raised. "You say it like I'm not supposed to be."

"No, Yuu said..." she floundered for words, then placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, I just got tricked by my zanpakuto."

"Your leg." Hitsugaya pointed with Hourinmaru.

"Hollow. Yuu distracted me just as it attacked." Karin fought her blush when he scooted closer to examine the wound. "It's nothing, really."

"It looks deep," he corrected her absently. "Sit down."

"What?"

"Sit down so I can perform the healing spell." He glanced up and she was struck by the intensity in his eyes. "It'll tickle and I don't want you falling on me."

She sat, oddly uncomfortable. She could hear Ikkaku yelling in the distance and Yumichika whining, and the reiatsu signatures of her sensei Yoruichi threaded around the forest as she examined the battleground. Hitsugaya had his hand on her calf, and an orange glow flooded his hand.

It really tickled.

Karin focused on the sight of the lacerations knitting together instead of the prickles running up and down her leg. She also ignored industriously the sniggering of her sword in the back of her mind.

"Why Karin, I didn't know you were here," said Matsumoto, her arm slung over Urahara's shoulder. He was supporting her. "And you're rating captain treatment! Even I don't get that... tch."

Karin flushed.

Hitsugaya only muttered, "Shut up, Matsumoto."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Ichigo came back bruised and battered. Isshin spent the better part of two hours patching up his son. He then went out with Urahara, neither saying a word to the other. Rukia was put in charge of watching the girls, but the moment Isshin left she secreted herself upstairs.

Yuzu made dinner, but all the while her mouth was drawn tight and tears threatened to fall. "Let's eat upstairs, Karin-chan."

"No, Yuzu, we'll be disturbing Ichi-nii."

"Please." Yuzu grabbed their plates and dashed upstairs.

Karin followed her anxiously. "Yuzu! Come on, he needs peace and quiet-"

"But, Karin..."

Rukia opened the door. Yuzu looked up with her big Bambi eyes, and the two girls entered.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Urahara didn't flinch when Isshin's blow landed on the wall beside his head. He watched his friend get his temper under control, before gesturing for him to sit down. Isshin refused.

"What happened?" Isshin didn't bother with pleasantries. "What the fucking hell happened to my son?"

"Espada happened to him." Urahara sighed. He chewed on his lower lip. "He must have decided to face them... the boy wasn't ready."

"Damn right he wasn't ready!"

"Look, Isshin," said Urahara placatingly, "Ichigo knows what he's signing up for. And although I don't like the vizards any more than you do, I know Shinji Hirako and he will help Ichigo build up his power."

Isshin paced the room. His bright orange-and-purple shirt clashed violently with his dark mood. "I don't trust them. They're on nobody's side."

"And no one should be," someone interrupted at the door.

Isshin rolled his eyes. "My day is complete."

"And good day to you too." Ryuken exhaled his cigarette smoke. "My stupid son's Quincy abilities have just been restored. When do you want him?"

"Given Ichigo's temperament, as soon as possible." Urahara inclined his head to the powerful Quincy. Ryuken nodded and exited, as sudden as he came.

Isshin sighed. "Sometimes I really hate that guy."

Urahara grinned suddenly. "Because he's effortlessly cool and you're stuck wearing the baby-spit-up shirt?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Yuzu finally fell asleep Karin pulled out of her body. Rukia nodded, already in her shinigami form.

"Can I leave you here on watch, Karin?" she asked, poised to leave. "Renji called and I have to get to him. Something about a meeting."

"No problem," said Karin. "Nothing's going to hurt any of my family again."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Rukia I'm fine," Renji repeated. "I didn't fight. I'm more worried about you. You almost... you'll need to point out which Espada it was, because I'm going to kill him five times over."

Rukia hugged Renji tightly. "I'm okay. It was... I almost peed my pants. If that vizard hadn't appeared..."

The redhead patted his dark-haired girl. "How's Ichigo?"

"He's still out of it." Rukia sighed.

They looked at the locked room where Yoruichi had sequestered herself. Tessai and the ex-captain were deep in discussion, but right now Rukia just wanted to feel safe again. Renji held her against his broad chest, as if he heard her wish.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Hitsugaya appeared at the window Karin nearly decked him.

"Whoa, hold it." He blocked her swing. "I came to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Can we talk downstairs?" he asked. Then he looked at Ichigo. "How is he?"

Karin glanced at her brother. "He hasn't... hasn't woken up."

Hitsugaya patted her shoulder. Karin squared her shoulders and led the way down to the living room. As they exited, Hitsugaya noticed how Karin's body was curled on the floor, and he returned to cover it with a sheet.

"Thanks," Karin said from the door. Hitsugaya shrugged.

They settled on the living room couch, side by side. Hitsugaya rubbed his nose. "If I'm not wrong, I'll need to leave very soon."

"Why?"

"Seireitei will want to find out in detail what happened here. We can't link up with Soul Society currently; we are seriously lacking in information."

Karin realized her hands were wringing together. "Why are you telling me this?"

Hitsugaya's lips twitched. "Urahara and Yoruichi will be very occupied with the coming war. You will be needed as a shinigami."

"To fight?"

"No," he shook his white head. "Perform soul burial, purify hollows... the usual duties of a shinigami. I know you're not an actual one but... we're drawn pretty tight as it is."

"How many shinigami do you have?"

"Not enough." He sighed and covered his eyes with his hands. "They're spread all over Japan, and with the Iraq war the shinigami of that region has requested our assistance. We also have shinigami posted in the Middle East and Africa to ease their perennial shortage. Our war with Aizen isn't a really huge issue in the bigger picture of the world."

"Tell me that you don't really believe that." Karin was on her feet. "You can't possibly believe that." her calf ached; the healing had worked but somehow there was still a twinge.

He almost smiled. "I don't. That's just the truth. But it's important to all the people here, and so it's important to me." Hitsugaya stood up as well. "So, when I come back, I will hand you a shinigami substitute badge – not the one Urahara lent you, but a real one, sanctioned by Seireitei."

"I thought you didn't want them to know of my existence."

"Things have changed. Now I can't be here to watch over the place, your brother probably will be on the front line, and there isn't anyone else I trust to be concerned enough about this town to take care of it." He cocked his head. "So it's down to you."

Karin folded her arms. "So I'm the last resort?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with that?"

Girl and captain tried to stare each other down. Then Hitsugaya softened. "Look, you're the one I trust here. Be careful."

"I'm Kurosaki Karin, have you met me? I'm nothing but-"

"If you steal my line I'll kick your ass." Hitsugaya snorted and waved goodbye, climbing out the window.

Karin watched him go. "The door is just here and he has to go out through a window."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"You were at the Kurosakis?" Matsumoto asked immediately.

Hitsugaya nodded. "I've put her in charge of the routine shinigami jobs."

"She's just a kid," the busty lieutenant reminded her captain. "You're asking a lot from her."

"What else can I do, Matsumoto? There are only so many shinigami, and we need the trained ones on the front line!"

Matsumoto exhaled heavily. She followed him as he shucked off his shoes. "Taichou, did you at least tell her?"

Hitsugaya frowned. "Tell her what?"

"That you like her?"

"I don't – this is not the time, alright? There are more important things than my liking her."

She sighed and, deciding her career could go to hell, smacked him on the back of his head. "Tell her that you'll ask her out. She'll get it. And you won't lose face, taichou."

"You just hit me!" growled Hitsugaya.

Matsumoto merely waved a goodbye and headed to the basement where everyone was gathering. "Get over it."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Karin changed into her school uniform. She stretched and was startled when a shadow appeared at the window.

"Hitsugaya – you just gave me the fright of my life!" she hissed at him. Yuzu was already in the kitchen. "What is it?"

He came in. "Meeting. Important."

Karin bustled out of bed to change into her shinigami form, but Hitsugaya shook his head. "Not for you. It's about yesterday. Inoue has disappeared."

"She's dead?" Karin was horrified. She couldn't imagine it: she had known Inoue almost as long as her brother had, and she had always been bemused by the older girl's non-sequitur tangents and weird tastes. She had also wanted to hit her brother over the head for not seeing how much Inoue liked him.

Hitsugaya sighed. "We hope not," he answered truthfully. "But there's a likelihood I will be called back immediately after the meeting."

Karin frowned. "So why are you here?"

For a moment he didn't reply. Then he said, "You remember last night, what I said?"

"The part about stealing your line and kicking my ass?"

"No," Hitsugaya said slowly, "the part about you being the only person I trust to protect this town."

She smiled crookedly. "Yeah. I remember." She stuffed her books into her bag, not willing to look at him.

He coughed. "There's something else."

If anything he sounded unsure. Karin was surprised – Hitsugaya always sounded certain of everything. She looked at the snowy-haired captain, who was looking at her.

"I, um... after much prodding from my lieutenant... Karin, when this is over, maybe we could go out?"

She was charmed. "Like a date?"

"Yeah."

"You do realize I might have died by then," Karin pointed out. "There is a war, you know."

"Well, then we'll just go out in Seireitei then." Hitsugaya inhaled. "I have to go talk to your brother now. I'll be seeing you."

She touched his hand as he prepared to swing to the next window. "Hey, Toshiro."

"Since when did I allow you to call me Toshiro?" he glared at her.

Unrepentant, Karin grinned. Then she pressed her lips to his mouth. He grabbed hold of the window frame, almost losing his balance.

Her lips were soft, like he remembered from the first time they kissed. And this time, he was the one feeling lightheaded. When she pulled away she was embarrassed, but still somewhat cocky.

With a small smirk Karin said, "I'll wait for that date. Be safe, Toshiro."

Hitsugaya nodded. "I will, Karin. You take care of everyone else... and I'll see you soon."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**A/N: Hitsugaya's Date ends here, because I don't want to contradict the original Bleachverse too much. If it continues everyone will be updated!**

**Thank you so much for your support! For a small fic it certainly blossomed beyond my wildest hopes, with so many, many people reading and reviewing :)**


	19. Preview of the Next

**A/N: Yes, there will be a sequel! This is just the preview of "Karin's Date", and it will be up once I finish typing it. Hope you would like the sequel as much as you enjoyed the first!**

**Character death early on, be warned.**

* * *

Hitsugaya felt the terror before he heard the scream. He restrained himself: he must not acknowledge it. The five arrancar Aizen had brought with him this time were far stronger than he had expected, and he must not be distracted...Except that it was the Kurosaki family in danger.

Shit.

Hitsugaya took a moment to marvel at his dwindling vocabulary, before he flash-stepped to the southwestern sector.

Too late, far too late. The Kurosaki house and clinic were demolished into rubble. He saw it from his vantage point. With a sudden lurch of fear and terror Hitsugaya dashed the last few hundred meters. As he neared the site he was thrown off his feet by a blast of reiatsu. It was familiar, oddly so, and he braced himself to face...

"Dad?" whispered Ichigo who had materialized beside him. The teenager had been much further away than Hitsugaya, at the North pillar. "Dad? Karin? Yuzu?"

There was no response. Hitsugaya had the presence of mind to rein in Ichigo's sudden rush forward into the rubble. The boy looked ready to haul the slabs apart with his bare hands. Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai landed nearby and the tall redhead was hauling Ichigo back from the collapsed building.

"No, no no no... let GO! Dad! Daddy, Karin, Karin, YUZU!!" Ichigo was shrieking. He was almost mad with grief, tears falling freely.

Who could blame him? Despite his prowess Ichigo was only a sixteen-year-old teenager. Hitsugaya steeled himself, his reiatsu scanning the area.

The arrancar responsible for the collapse emerged from nowhere and its claws scratched past Hitsugaya's right arm. The captain snarled and slashed, only to be blocked. It grinned toothily, its thin half-mask like a slipped choker about its neck.

Before he attacked again Hitsugaya shouted, "Keep him back!"

Abarai and Rukia understood immediately. Rukia put a binding spell on Ichigo before the teen could go bankai and unleash far too much reiatsu to assist. Hitsugaya knew Abarai would keep Ichigo down long enough for him to finish the job. He intended to do so fast.

"_Gekido, Yuutsubame." _

Hitsugaya almost tripped over his feet. _It can't be._

The rush of water from behind Hitsugaya soaked the arrancar completely. Releasing his sword, Hitsugaya froze it and it splintered into glittering shards. Then he inhaled deeply before turning around.

Kurosaki Karin was there, breathing heavily, her body slumped against the wall where Yuzu was cradling it. Both girls were bleeding from various cuts. But they were alive.

_They are alive._

Abarai released Ichigo, who sprinted to his sisters and hugged them both tightly. Yuzu wrapped her arms about Ichigo's neck, and Karin pushed herself out of it to stare at the fallen house.

"Wait a minute," Ichigo said suddenly, his face still blotchy with tears. "Yuzu, you can see me?"

"Yes. And Rukia-chan, and Hitsugaya-kun, and Abarai-san. And I suppose you're... you're the same as them, right?"

"No time for explanations," Hitsugaya interrupted coldly. "Kuchiki, Abarai, take Yuzu and Karin to Urahara's for treatment. Then when you're ready, all three of you should rejoin the battle. There are still four more arrancar out there with Aizen."

"Yes taichou!" Rukia caught Yuzu's hand with her own, while Abarai hoisted Karin's body and Karin's spiritual form over his shoulders. Karin didn't even struggle, which was something far too odd in itself. Ichigo followed at a brisk pace, assuring himself that his sisters were fine.

When he judged them to be far away enough, Hitsugaya coughed. "You should come out now."

"Yeah, I really should," said Kurosaki Isshin, his shinigami uniform fluttering. The ragged remains of his captain's coat was still tied over his shoulder. "Hitsugaya-taichou, thank you for your assistance."

"Kurosawa Shino," greeted Hitsugaya warily. "or should I address you as Kurosaki Isshin?"

"Isshin-san will do. I've been using that name for too long." The bearded shinigami rubbed his nose. "What do you reckon I should tell them?"

"How about the truth?" Hitsugaya was almost angry – not on his own behalf. "But you better do it soon before they accept that you're dead and gone. Else it'll be a double shock."

Isshin sighed. "I am dead, as far as my body is concerned. At least I died young and handsome."

"I have to return to my duties." Hitsugaya returned Hourinmaru to its customary position behind himself. He strode away as fast as he could, trying to find out why he hadn't just told Karin the truth immediately. He would tell her, eventually, that he had known before they did.

But he knew he would never tell her that the moment he saw her alive was one of the happiest in his long existence.


End file.
